


Of Princes and Potions

by NekoAbi



Series: Of Princes and Potions [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Blacking Out, Blood, Chap 6 is a heavy one, Horses, Knives, M/M, Magic, Malnourishment, Non-Graphic Violence, Post-War, Potions, Serious Injuries, Snakes, Stabbing, Swords, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, Thomas is a small boy, War Mention, Yet not descriptive, anxiety attack, death mention, potion accident, royal au, shouting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-20
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2019-11-26 04:06:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 34,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18175643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NekoAbi/pseuds/NekoAbi
Summary: Logan Pendry is the royal wizard for the Sanders royal family and Prince Roman is the crown prince, who is turning 21 soon. As per tradition, he is to have a large party for his birthday. He believes it will be a simple large party, but other families and nobles have different ideas. While all this is happening, Prince Roman is flirting with the royal wizard, who seems to be immune to his flirtatious nature, yet it pushes Logan to try and understand his emotions better... but not everything goes to plan.





	1. Chapter 1

The Kingdom of Phasta was a peaceful kingdom, ruled by a long-standing and well-loved royal family. Its scattered towns and villages housed its inhabitants, most living fairly mundane yet enriching lives as tradespeople or merchants. It had not always been this way, however.

Years prior, when the current king was merely a small child, a war between supporters of the royal family and a tribe that resided on the opposite side of the kingdom broke out.

The Yitra were frustrated from years of dehumanisation and prejudice. For as long as anyone could remember, the tribe was treated with caution. Whether it had to do with their reptile-like features or if it came from the folk tales surrounding evil tricksters coming and ruining lives, no one could truly tell. The last leader had come to reign over the tribe only three months before the war and was able to convince his people that the royals were the instigators of the hatred, even though the royals had always been kind and welcoming to them. The king at the time had even gone so far as to publicly support the Yitra and attempt to dispel the harsh rumours. That was seen as a performance, by the tribe leader, and so he took his people and began the war.

The Yitra tribe was massacred. Many of them perished in the fight as they were severely outnumbered and outmatched by the skill of the people they fought against. Some were taken as prisoner and still reside within the castle dungeon to the present day. The final day of the war is now celebrated as a holiday, a party and celebration that spreads across the whole kingdom.

Far across the land, the Yitra’s home was destroyed and left in ruin. Years passed, and the ruins were left alone by the kingdom, though some adventurers and curious travellers have stepped foot upon the dead ground. Some see the remains as a warning to those who think they can defy the royal family, though those close to the royals would be able to tell you otherwise. The ruins are left as a reminder of the tragedy, a reminder of what once was. Many parents tell ghost stories to their young about the war, about the ruins and about the Yitra. Even though it was only a short time ago, the tribe have almost become something of a legend.

In the castle that resided in the back of the capital city of Dawnwich, the current king was reflecting on these past events with a heavy heart. He knew his actions back then were the correct ones, even if his people would have said otherwise. King Patton was sitting on his window seat, a plush cushion held in his arms as he looked out the large window. He sighed, “Why can’t I sleep tonight?” The king spoke to himself, well aware that the room was devoid of any other humans.

He glanced over to the extremely comfortable bed that he should be asleep in, the question ringing in his ears. Patton was so distracted by it that he flinched when something came to sit with him on the large window seat.

Patton made a quiet noise of surprise before realising that the addition to his seat was his large, white, fluffy Great Pyrenees. The king quickly smiled and reached forward to pet the dog, who was watching him with questioning eyes, “Sorry to worry you, Marshmallow.”

The dog moved closer, resting his weight over Patton’s legs in order to briefly lick his owner’s cheek, which had the royal giggling. Upon seeing the smile, Marshmallow’s tail began to swing back and forth.

“Thank you, boy.” Patton pressed a kiss to the top of the dog’s head before getting him to hop off of the window seat. He followed suit and made his way across the room towards the bed, sliding under the incredibly soft sheets. Patton called Marshmallow up, the dog more than happy to obey. Both of them found the most comfortable positions and lay down to sleep, Patton’s mind having been quieted by his beloved companion’s concern.

All light within the castle windows was gone, except for one. The tallest tower’s window still held flickers of light, if one were to look close enough. Within it’s walls, the royal wizard was hard at work deciphering yet another spell from a large tome he’d acquired.

“ _Petriectum Noctindo_ …” Logan Pendry muttered to himself, before reading the description below. He meticulously noted down the translation of the incantation and its effects, casting requirements and all other information that was on the page. He only paused when a ruffle of wings sounded behind him.

Logan ended the sentence he was translating before placing the quill back in its holder. He turned with a fond gaze to the tawny owl that sat on the perch next to the open window, shaking his head softly as he noticed the small animal that was held in the beak of the bird. He held his hand open under her beak, which was the signal that had the animal being dropped into it. Logan stored it away in a jar, along with other animals that were in various states of decay.

“Thank you, Strix.” The wizard carefully pet the owl, who was watching him with interest. He let out a snort of laughter before reaching for another jar. He held out the small treat, which Strix almost immediately stole out of his fingers. “Sometimes I wonder if that’s all you want.” Logan thought aloud as he placed the treat jar back onto the shelf.

The owl made a soft noise before leaning into his hand, which was back to petting her, showing him that he wasn’t just a source of treats for her. It was times like this when Logan wondered if she was just an extremely smart animal or if there were more secrets to Strix, but he pushed that aside for now.

Logan stared out the window and watched the night sky for a moment, “It is late. I should probably put my work aside for the night.” Strix hoo’d lightly, showing him that she agreed with his statement while also giving him a look that made Logan feel like he was being scolded.

He left the parchment unrolled on his workbench but lay a piece of string between the pages of the tome before closing it for the night. After putting all the candles out, Logan climbed the spiral steps up to the higher floor of the tower where his bed sat, pristinely made from the morning. He didn’t immediately lay down under the sheets, however, He instead opened the trap door in the ceiling and crawled out to the roof. Logan stared up at the twinkling stars, almost filled with a child-like wonder as he thought about them all.

If Logan would have looked down, he may have been able to make out the figure of the animal handler sluggishly entering the building where his bed resided. The wizard would have been a little curious as to why the man was up as late as he was.

Demitri Candor was a very interesting man for most. He seemed to have no true origin, having just been brought to the castle at a very young age to be nursed back to health. He’d been found with his face gashed open and many scars littering his body, weak and malnourished as if he’d been abandoned. After taking a few weeks to recover, Demitri had never left the castle. He stayed as the animal handler after he showed a natural talent for working with the royal family’s horses.

But right now, the man was extremely tired. His day had been long and arduous, mostly due to which animals needed the most care today. Demitri was muttering under his breath to himself as he stripped out of his protective gear, “What a stupid Pegasus. So demanding? It’s _his_ fault, he needs to teach it better.”

He crossed the room to the large tank that sat at the foot of his bed, up on top of the well-used set of drawers that housed most of his clothing. Demitri fondly smiled at the resting snake, his most precious pet. “You’re not like that picky feathered horse.” He spoke to the snake, despite the fact he was fully aware she was deep in sleep.

Demitri stood and admired his pet for a few moments longer before crawling under the plain sheets of his bed and laying down to rest. He nestled into the corner of the pillows he’d set up around the head of the bed, almost finding that it made him feel safe despite him not really being able to explain it. The animal handler yawned, “Goodnight, my little Pretzel.” He smiled softly to himself before falling asleep.

Finally, all was dark and calm in the castle. Barely a soul was moving, excluding the general toss and turn of someone in their sleep. The night passed uneventfully, and the morning sun rose, bringing with it the orders that the now-busy staff had to carry out. Kitchen staff woke with the sun and set about creating breakfast, while the rest of the castle began their usual routines.

In the high levels of the castle, down a heavily decorated hallway lay the rooms for the Sanders princes. Two members of the staff silently approached the opposing doors at the end of the hallway, knocking softly. When neither heard a response, they entered the rooms.

The left room was for the younger of the king’s two sons. The young lady who’d entered the room smiled softly at the small boy who was still sound asleep. She didn’t wish to wake the young prince, but it was her duty to make sure he woke and was ready for breakfast. With as much care as she could, the servant shook the young prince’s shoulder, “Your Highness… It’s time for you to get out of bed and get ready for breakfast. Your Highness?”

The lump under the blankets groaned and wriggled further under the covers, “Nooo, wanna sleep…” came the tired voice that made the servant stifle a gentle laugh.

“But Your Highness, you-” Before she could begin to try to convince the prince to get up, the sound of something running down the corridor reached her ears. She did attempt to walk to the door and open it in preparation, but the creature was just too fast and slammed the door against the wall as it bounded inside.

A large white blur crossed the room and jumped up onto the bed, immediately diving for the young prince who squealed happily once the creature began to lick his face. The boy laughed and squirmed about in an attempt to avoid the loving attack, “Marshy, stop!” Marshmallow did immediately stop his assault, panting happily as he lingered above the child, who was now definitely awake.

Marshmallow moved to the side when the prince started to climb out of the bed. Prince Thomas stretched before noticing the young woman standing in his room. He grinned and ran towards her, throwing his arms around her legs in a hug, “Good morning, Sara!”

The servant smiled softly and carefully returned the hug, “Good morning, Your Highness. You’re having breakfast with your father today.”

That got Thomas very excited. He bounded back and looked up at Sara with sparkling eyes, “Really?! Is Ro-Ro coming too?!” When she nodded, the young prince seemed extraordinarily pleased as he squealed. He ran over to the large closet, quickly rushing inside to get dressed. Marshmallow followed after a silent order from Sara asked him to.

Across the hallway, the other servant was accompanying the crown prince as he attempted to find the right outfit for the day. They stood just inside the double doors of the positively enormous walk-in wardrobe, watching as the prince held up items of clothing to himself and he appraised them in the mirror.

“No… that’s just not right…” The elder prince turned and clicked it back on the rail before picking up the next one, “Oh, this one…” Suddenly, he turned towards the servant, “What do you think?”

“It is perfect, Your Highness.” They responded with a gentle nod.

The prince pouted and seemed a little annoyed as he turned back to the mirror, appraising his outfit choice once more, “Oliver, how many times must I remind you? You’ve been here for long enough and woken me up every day, you are allowed to call me by my name.”

Oliver stiffened slightly and drew in a deep breath, ready to start his day off as usual, “Of course, Prince Roman. I forgot, once more, that you allowed me to do so.”

“Yes, you did…” Roman said, clearly distracted as he now moved to looking for the final parts of his outfit, “Be sure to remember, alright? It is tedious to keep telling you over and over.”

“As you tell me each day, Prince Roman.”

The slightly annoyed response had the prince laughing loudly. After throwing his signature red sash over his body and securing it in place, he walked towards the servant and clapped his shoulder firmly, “Oliver, you truly are unique.”

Both of the princes managed to leave their rooms at a similar time, meaning the two met as they headed down the corridor. Roman was just a few steps down the hall when the young voice of his brother called out to him.

“Ro-Ro!”

The elder prince spun on the spot and crouched down in preparation. Immediately, the small boy was in his arms and Roman picked the boy up, carrying him down the hallway over his shoulder, “Morning, Brother.”

“Put me down!” Thomas thrashed about, giggling all the while. It was only once they reached the end of the hallway that Roman did put the younger back on the ground, mostly because he heard the two servants exiting their rooms and he would likely get some kind of grief from his father if Sara even saw what he’d done.

After a short walk, the two brothers walked through the large doors of the dining room, taking their usual seats either side of the head of the table. It was a little strange that their father was not there before them, but it didn’t worry either of them too much; Thomas was still in the process of truly waking up and Roman was in conversation with some of the waiting servants that stood nearby. Recognisable voices began to approach the room and both of the princes looked towards the door in order to greet their father.

“Good morning, you two!” Patton grinned as he turned into the dining room. He was shortly followed by the captain of the guard, who had quickly stopped conversing with the king as his attention had been taken by the king’s two sons. “Thank you for letting me know, Sir Virgil. I’ll be sure to come and visit you in order to finish our conversation, but first – how about you join us for breakfast?” Patton offered, gesturing along the large table, “We have more than enough space.”

Virgil bowed slightly, “I appreciate the offer, Your Majesty, but I have morning drills to go through with the new recruits. I will have to take you up on it another time.” As he turned to leave, he gave Patton a wry smile, “Also, you know you don’t have to use that title, Your Majesty.”

“And you know the same.”

A moment of silence passed before Virgil snorted softly in amusement.

“Speak with you later, Patton.”

“Of course, Virgil! Don’t forget, you are always welcome to join us.” Patton grinned and patted the guard’s shoulder.

“Thank you. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” Virgil turned sharply and headed down the corridor towards the exit that led to the guards’ barracks. He breathed more easily now that he was away from the pressure of talking with the king. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the ruler of the kingdom; they were actually good friends that went back years, it was more that he was constantly wary of others as they’d walked the halls together. In front of fellow knights and servants, Virgil wanted to keep the professional and commanding nature he was known for as well as show respect for Patton.

He was still lingering on his thoughts and the trip through the castle as he entered the training paddock where the new knight recruits were standing around, waiting for him. Virgil immediately managed to drop the thoughts and go to his usual persona that could strike fear into the heart of even the bravest solider they had.

“Alright, recruits.” He called out in a simple monotone shout, causing all of them to stand straighter, “Let’s get to training.” Virgil walked to the side and picked up his helmet, slipping it over his face and beginning to lead the session. As he stood before one of the training dummies and raised his sword, Virgil had a feeling that this would be the easiest session yet.


	2. Chapter 2

Breakfast was brought to the royals, who were happily enjoying their time together. Thomas was excitedly chattering away to his father, while Patton indulged the young boy by asking for more and more details about what he was talking about. On the other side, Roman was sat quietly listening as he had little to converse about or add to his little brother’s ramblings.

It was only once Thomas had started to eat that he quietened significantly, allowing the older two of the Sanders family to talk.

“So, Roman, how is your training going?” Patton asked casually, turning his attention to his eldest. Roman proudly answered his father’s question as if he were weaving a tale, clearly over emphasising certain elements. Patton inwardly chuckled at the thought.

“And Sir Virgil seemed highly impressed by my quick reactions to the other guards. So much so that he invited me to spar with some of the new recruits later today.” Roman preened slightly as he told Patton about the invitation.

Patton grinned and clasped his hands together, “That’s wonderful, son. I’m so proud of the work you’ve put into all your training!” There was a lull in the conversation as each of the family finished their meals. It was then that Patton cautiously brought up a topic, “Say, son… Your birthday is coming soon, isn’t it?”

The crown prince ran a hand through his hair, a proud expression taking over his face, “Of course it is, father. I shall be turning the perfect age of 21, though I am sure you were aware of that.”

Patton chuckled, “Of course, Roman, I knew that. I just wanted to ask what you would like for a celebration. You know tha-” The king was unable to finish his sentence as his eldest son cut across him.

“I know that I am already going to have a large, grand ball because that is the tradition for when a prince turns such an age, but it should definitely be the most extravagant and fantastical ball that anyone will ever have experienced. I can see it now; a ball that will go down in history as the greatest ball that any family has ever put on.” Roman went on to describe his perfect vision for what he wanted, including things such as guest list, colours, outfits, decorations. He was so lost in his description that he was completely unaware of his father trying to cut in.

The king eventually gave up as he realised his son was just not stopping any time soon, planning on speaking to Roman more in the upcoming days about the ball, as he really did need to tell him some details that would be inevitable. He looked to his other side and watched his youngest stare across the table. Thomas was utterly enamoured by his older brother’s plans and ideas, his eyes shining with wonder as he clearly started to picture the fancy ballroom they had covered in all of the things Roman was talking about.

The crown prince’s fantasy vision was destroyed when servants cleared the table and Patton stood up from his chair, “Well, it sounds like you have a very vivid image of what you would like, Roman, and I do want to do that for you. We will need to talk about it some more later. Come and see me tomorrow, just after breakfast. I have to go for now. Enjoy the rest of your day, you two.” With that, the king swept through the door and headed off to perform whatever duties he needed.

Sara slipped into the doorway and called to Thomas, “Your Highness, the tutor is waiting for you in the classroom.” The younger prince hopped down off of the chair and walked as fast as he could over to the young servant. He turned and waved to Roman as he left.

“Bye Ro-Ro!”

Roman gently waved back. He remained in his seat for a minute longer before finally heaving himself up. At the moment, he didn’t have much planned. There was still time before he was to head over to the trainee knights and test their combat skills, so Roman decided to take a wander around the castle.

He was still lost in his visions of the party he was imagining, some details morphing from one colour to another as he tried to figure out the best combination. Roman was far too absorbed in his thoughts to notice the other distracted figure coming down the hall towards him. While he may have only been meandering down the corridor, the other person had been walking at speed, so when they crashed, Roman was the one sent flying to the floor.

All the wind was knocked from him as he landed hard on the stone flooring. Roman winced and turned his gaze up, ready to berate whoever had walked into him, but was immediately stopped by the gorgeous man before him.

“I apologise profusely, Your Highness. I should have been more cognizant of my surroundings.” Logan cleared his throat, slightly embarrassed by his actions.

Roman simply smiled confidently, “I seem to have a habit of ending up on the floor around you, Sir Magician. Perhaps next time you could catch me before I fall even harder for you?” The prince got up off of the floor and dusted himself off before looking back at the royal mage. He was internally disappointed by the lack of a visible reaction from the man, as he had hoped all the time he’d put into working on his romantic, flirtatious nature would at least get him a slight flush of the cheeks.

Logan just stood straight, looking down at the prince with a blank expression. He seemed a little annoyed, if the slight angle of his eyebrow was anything to go by. The two stood in silence for a moment, both waiting for the other to speak first but neither wanting to yield. Eventually, Logan sighed, “If we are done here, Your Highness, I have things I must attend to back in my tower.”

“I was hoping I could just stand here and stare at you for a while longer - like one should at any piece of exquisite art -but I understand that you are a busy man. I suppose I’ll have to keep such a desire for another day.” Roman shrugged and walked past the magician. He did pause when standing in line with Logan and looked sideways towards him, his eyes trailing all over his body before he spoke, “Maybe I’ll get the chance to have my hands on the whole collection sometime…” After that, Roman passed by and headed off on his way.

He couldn’t wipe the smile off of his face. Roman had been able to get Logan to at least react in some way, even if it was mostly a rolling of the eyes – though he presumed it to be a cover up for the way the magician flinched the tiniest bit at the proposition Roman had sent his way. As he was about to round the corner, Logan’s voice called out to him.

“Sorry, but you aren't supposed to handle the art. It's a common rule. I thought you'd know that was the proper decorum.” Logan’s voice was still as calm as ever, though Roman was only basing that off a couple of encounters with the man.

The crown prince stopped and turned to look back at the royal wizard, again letting his eyes graze over the full length of the star covered cloak that was hiding that thin, lithe body that he’d seen from him, “But if the art was mine, I’d be able to do as I please with it. Am I not correct?” The wizard seemed a little lost for words, as if he’d not been expecting such a response. Roman chuckled softly to himself before offering a gentle wave, “Do not let me keep you a second longer, Sir Pendry. Goodbye, for now.”

Roman continued on his way, heading in the general direction of the knights’ training area. He was in much higher spirits now as his mind was full of images and thoughts of the royal wizard, especially of their first meeting.

He’d been out on Allegria, soring through the air above the castle, enjoying the feeling of pure freedom. The pair had been practicing some tricks over the past months and had finally been able to complete the manoeuvre multiple times in a row with no failures only a couple of days before. Due to his high spirits and trust in his pegasus companion, Roman managed to convince the proud animal to try the trick far in the sky.

Allegria was more than happy to show off her skill and immediately sped up in order to begin the trick. After a few seconds at her top speed, Roman pulled on the white reigns to have her changing the direction, so she was beginning to rise. It was only a few seconds, but the pair performed the loop perfectly, coming out of the trick smoothly.

The two were running high on adrenaline and got caught up in celebrating their success. Allegria was so excited that she decided to do a repeat performance, with little warning to her rider and almost no care to her surroundings. Roman had to grip suddenly to avoid falling off which distracted him from their current position at the same time. It was only as the wall of the castle and the open window came into view as they came out of the loop that both Roman and Allegria realised their mistake and it was far too late.

The pegasus crashed into the wall just below the window, causing her rider who was still finding his grip to go flying through it and crash into the furniture on the opposite side of the room. Both fell hard to the ground, though Allegria was able to catch herself before she crashed too hard. Roman, on the other hand, was completely dazed.

He had a chance to look around the room he’d flown into. The ceilings were high and almost all the walls he was able to see were lined with bookshelves that were practically groaning under the weight of thick, leather-bound books and jars filled to the brim with mysterious substances. A large ladder rested against one of the bookshelves, clearly for the owner of the room to reach the high up shelves. On the floor at Roman’s feet was something that looked like a perch for a bird, though it was hard to tell with his slightly fuzzy vision and angle. He noticed the desks that sat under shorter, but still extremely full bookshelves that sat between the taller ones, all of them looking as though they had a different purpose. While all of this was extremely interesting and Roman would have wanted to explore this new area of the castle and see what was at the top of the spiral stairs across from him, he was far too distracted by the man who was looking down at him with a look of pure confusion and shock.

The man was stood just in front of a book stand with one of the thick books open on top of it, a dark blue robe where the edges were lined with stars resting on a mannequin behind it. But that was not important as the man was utterly enchanting and positively gorgeous. His features were sharp and angular, which Roman could only compare to his beloved sword. His eyes were a striking deep brown which almost seemed like a void that Roman felt himself falling into the longer he stared, while the hair atop his head matched the colour of his eyes and was immaculately placed. The pale skin was contrasted so wonderfully by the dark colour of the clothes he was wearing, the simple dark blue tunic’s long sleeves pushed up to past the man’s elbows which gave the prince the perfect look at his slightly defined arms and the large hands. The last thing Roman noticed was the dark feathered owl that was perched upon the man’s shoulder, which gave him more evidence to believe the thing at his feet was, in fact, a perch.

Roman was unable to truly think as he stared up at the beautiful stranger and, whether it was because of how hard he’d hit his head or because of the sight in front of him, Roman managed to breathe out a few words, “I guess that crash must have been enough to kill me. Why else would I be seeing an angel in front of me…?”

The man seemed to be startled by the prince’s words, only able to look at him in alarm before scoffing to himself. He offered a hand to the prince, “I am no angel, Your Highness, just a simple magician.”

The prince managed to get to his feet, swaying a little as he found his footing again. Everything was still a little fuzzy and he was definitely aching in almost every part of his body. He wanted to thank this man for getting him up but was distracted by loud whinnying and stomping from outside the window. Roman walked over and peered down towards Allegria, who was clearly upset and nursing a bad head and wing injury. The prince winced slightly when the pegasus looked up towards him with pure rage. He pulled himself back in and put on a confident smile, “It seems my dear pegasus needs some tending to. I suppose I shall leave you be. Sorry for the intrusion, my dear sir.”

The stranger accompanied him to the door, walking close behind the prince. Roman turned to look up at the man’s eyes once more after passing through the threshold, “I would love to know your name, if you would like to indulge me.”

The man’s lip seemed to twitch upwards at the side as he responded, “My name is Logan Pendry, Your Highness.”

“Logan.” Roman said his name and it felt almost like it slid right off of his tongue, as if the name was meant for him to say, “Perhaps I’ll have to crash through windows more often if it leads to gorgeous sights such as yourself.”

Logan snorted and rolled his eyes, but his lip remained quirked upwards, “You should tend to your pegasus. It doesn’t sound all that pleased.” He paused, allowing Roman to hear Allegria crying out even louder. When Roman scrunched his face up at the thought of facing the angered animal, Logan’s smile became more pronounced, “Goodbye, Your Highness.” were the last words he said before slowly shutting the wooden door to his study.

Roman frequently thought about the incident, mostly remembering the beauty that was Logan Pendry. The wizard was honestly on his mind far more than Roman would ever say aloud. It wasn’t that he was ashamed of his attraction to the man, far from it. It was more that if he spoke about it, many people would likely see it as bordering on obsession. He just wanted to be in the man’s presence as often as he could, yet it was incredibly difficult.

His room was up in the tallest tower, the highest point of the castle. It was so far out of the way for Roman and up so high, that every time he thought about visiting him, Roman was already feeling the exhaustion setting in. It was likely because of this same factor that Logan rarely visited the castle, though Roman was now seeing him around far more often. He was just about to start his theorising of why he was seeing the elusive man roaming the halls more frequently, but the prince had just entered the knights’ training area and was distracted by Virgil calling for him. He put the thoughts aside as he became excited to show off his sword skills.

Meanwhile, up in said room in the tallest tower, Logan had just shut the door firmly. He leant against the wooden door as his face burned a bright red. He had no idea what was going on. Every time he had crossed paths with the crown prince, Logan had felt a spark inside of him that had his heart racing and his cheeks threatening to flush. The magician just couldn’t understand it, he just couldn’t fathom why one single person would give him such a rush of feeling. He cursed the prince under his breath as he peeled the cloak off of his shoulders and wrapped it around it’s usual resting spot behind his reading book stand.

Logan stood there for a moment, his eyes trailing over to the side that was nearby. It was where Roman had fallen on that fateful day, a dark mark that coated the right side of the desk being a permanent reminder of those events.

It had all happened on a normal day. Logan had been standing at his perch, reading through a new tome with interest, the rest of the world unimportant. Nothing should have interrupted him and certainly nothing should have distracted him, but Strix flying over and perching on his shoulder was unexpected. He almost jumped when he felt her claws, turning to look at the owl with confusion.

“What are you doing? You never do this…” Logan asked. Strix turned to look at the window, as if trying to answer his question. Logan went to turn and look out in that same direction, but the events were already unfolding before he could blink.

A man came flying through the window, knocking Strix’s perch onto the floor. The top of it splintered a little as it hit the ground hard. The stranger hit the desk next to Logan with a loud crash, causing several small bottles to fall over and one to crack and leak – which had caused the mark that was still visible to this day. Outside the window, Logan clearly had heard the smack of something against the bricks and was able to just make out the slight fluttering of wings as whatever had hit the wall and thrown the man into his room fell to the ground.

This had been the moment the feelings had started. Logan watched as the man caught up with his surroundings, noticing the small details about him. The man’s dirty blond hair was falling into his eyes and his instinctual instinct to run his hand through it had Logan’s breath catching slightly for an unknown reason. When the stranger locked eyes with him, he was able to see the deep brown of the iris and was almost lost in the comparison between it and his tanned skin. The man was clearly a nobleman, or at least someone of higher status, due to the decoration and pure white colouring of his tunic which was now dirtied, which also was clinging to his upper arms allowing Logan to notice the structure of his muscled arms. Then the nobleman opened his mouth and called him an angel in his smooth voice. Logan’s legs seemed to lose a little of their strength and he felt his brain stop completely as he attempted to comprehend what had just been said to him.

“I am no angel, sir.” Logan had eventually said, coming back to himself. “I am simply a magician.” He’d offered a hand to the man on the ground before even thinking about it.

The nobleman got to his feet and stumbled over to the window as both of them heard the loud frustrated noises coming from the pegasus who was grounded on the grass at the foot of the tower. Logan noticed that the prince sharply pulled himself back from the window for seemingly no reason and so he peered down at the frustrated winged horse. When he caught the eyes that seemed to hold pure fury, Logan turned and spoke to the nobleman, “You should go and check on your pegasus. It doesn’t seem very pleased with you.”

The stranger laughed confidently, once again running a hand through his hair in order to push it away from his eyes, “She’ll be fine for a few moments longer. Gives us just enough time to at least become acquainted.”

Logan narrowed his eyes slightly, “Are you sure? She doesn’t seem all that happy and that was an extremely hard impact… You, yourself, should also go and be seen in the infirmary. I’m sure they’d be more than happy to check you over…”

The nobleman waved a hand, dismissing Logan’s concerns. He leaned in closer to the wizard, almost smirking, “I'd much rather you check me out instead. You must be a smart man, I'm sure you could do such a simple thing.”

“If by ‘simple thing’, you are referring to yourself, then yes. You do appear to be _quite_ simple.” Logan looked down his nose at the man, almost in disgust.

The stranger grinned, “Despite my apparent simplicity, you did just agree that you would do me. I’m more than happy to be simple if that’s what I get in return.”

Logan was now completely done by the man’s stubbornness to continue this pointless charade. It had nothing to do with the fact he could feel heat rising in his cheeks and his heartrate increasing even more, and definitely had no relation at all with the images that were suddenly flashing through his mind by the implications that the noble had just made him aware of. Logan grasped a hold of the stranger’s arm and dragged him towards the door, almost tossing him out of the room in annoyance. As he went to shut the door, the nobleman managed to hold it open.

“Would you at least tell me your name?” He asked, maintaining direct eye contact with the flustered mage.

“Logan Pendry.” Logan replied shortly.

The man standing outside had repeated the name slowly, as if he was savouring it, “Well, Sir Logan, I hope to see you around more often. Perhaps I’ll crash through your window again sometime.”

“Please refrain from doing such a moronic thing. I don’t think you can afford many more blows to the head.” Logan snarked.

The noble laughed heartily, leaning against the outer door frame casually, “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?”

Logan rolled his eyes, “Goodbye…” He trailed off, suddenly realising he’d not found out this man’s name.

The man seemed a little surprised, but not at all offended, “Roman. Crown Prince Roman Sanders.” He bowed deeply, almost in a sarcastic manner.

Logan felt his entire body turn to stone. He quickly shut the door with a muttered, “Goodbye, Your Highness.” The lock on the door was slammed shut before Roman could even say a single word. Logan had taken the rest of the day to think about the fact he’d not only insulted and manhandled the crown prince, but also had been flirted with by him. He’d quickly decided the prince was just playing a trick on him and attempted to forget about it.

The magician decided to try and figure out what was truly causing such odd reactions to occur within him, such as his elevated heart rate. This is what had caused him to spend more time out of his tower and around the castle, under the pretence of experimentation which was not technically a lie.

Now, Logan crawled up the stairs and out of the trapdoor in his bedroom ceiling in order to sit on the roof. It was his space away from the world, away from the castle. Though he could see it wherever he looked, Logan simply felt like he was in a different land all together. He came out here when he needed to think or relax. He still couldn’t figure out why Roman’s presence made him feel such peculiar things, but Logan tried to push that away for now as all he really wanted to do was calm down from that day’s event.


	3. Chapter 3

Roman wiped the sweat from his brow as he lowered his sword and pulled off his helmet. He was breathing heavily, his body aching from the fall he’d just taken. His smile was still present, however, especially as the man in front of him took off his own helmet. “You still best me for now, Sir Virgil, but one day, I will defeat you.”

Virgil shook his head and huffed out a quick laugh, holding out his hand for the prince, “And when that day comes, it’ll be the same day as when I’m put to rest.”

The prince gaped in offense as he used the knight’s hand to pull himself back up to his feet, “How rude of you to say such a thing to me!” Virgil merely shrugged and turned back to his recruits, ignoring Roman’s continued frustration. Roman moved to the side, pouting as he watched the head of the Knights address his subordinates.

However, just as the events had begun, a gentle applause caught everyone’s attention and they all turned their attention to the door towards the castle.

Patton stood just in front, the door held open behind him. He was smiling in a way that made it seem like he was holding back a grin. All the new recruits seemed to tense in the presence of the king, but Virgil simply turned and responded with his own smile.

The king’s attention was mostly upon his son, “Roman, I thought you said your training was going well?” At his son’s exaggerated pout, Patton laughed loudly. “I hope you don’t mind me asking for you to come with me?”

Roman glanced to Virgil, “I believe I am done here. I don’t think I’d like to be humiliated anymore than I already have been.” He sniffed and turned sharply, walking towards his father with his head held high. Behind him, he could hear the knight captain snort in laughter. He went to turn and retort once more, but another laugh from Patton stopped him. Roman, instead, simply tossed an annoyed look back towards the knight before slipping past his father into the castle.

“I’m sorry to steal him from you, Sir Virgil.” Roman heard his father say as he waited just a little behind him.

“It’s no problem, Your Majesty. We were just about to finish anyway.” There was something amused in Virgil’s tone as he responded, which made Roman’s mildly simmering frustration heat up just that little bit more. He felt a part of him wanting to march back outside and challenge the man to another round, but Roman managed to rein it in and appear composed.

While he’d been focused upon himself, Roman had failed to notice that his father and Virgil had finished their conversation and Patton was now waiting for him, until a hand clasped his shoulder. The prince jumped slightly at the sudden touch, “Uh, sorry, father. I was lost in thought for a second.” Roman quickly responded to the slight worry in his father’s gaze.

Patton’s eyes turned fond and a soft smile tugged at his lips, “It’s alright, Roman. Come with me, I have something I wanted to discuss with you.”

The king was well aware he’d told his son to come and speak with him the next day, but the topic was constantly on his mind as he went about his day. Patton knew he’d lose sleep over the issue and decided, in the down time he had between a few of his duties, he’d find his son and talk with him about the birthday ball. He led the way towards his personal study room, which happened to lie just a short walk down the corridor from his own bedroom.

Upon opening the door, Patton allowed Roman to enter first before turning to the servants who had been accompanying him throughout the day so far, “Thank you, please leave us for now.” The two bowed in acknowledgement before heading back the way they’d come.

Patton then turned to his son, who was stood waiting to be told what to do. The king smiled, “I’ll be back in a moment, just sit down, son.” He took the short walk to his room in order to retrieve his beloved dog before returning to the small study. As soon as Patton entered, he laughed.

Roman had taken his word and decided to sit in the chair sat behind the desk, his feet crossed atop the wooden structure in front of him and a pleased smirk crossing his features. It was certainly what Patton had expected from his mischievous son. However, Roman’s plan to remain in that position was quickly foiled by the excitable Marshmallow, who attempted to jump into the prince’s lap causing his legs to fall.

Patton shut the door and stood in front of his son, who was fussing over the fluffy white dog, “Roman, I think that’s my seat.”

“You told me to sit down, you didn’t specify where.” Roman countered, smiling up at his father.

“Roman…” Patton said, a warning tone to his voice though the amused smile took a lot of the danger out of it.

“Alright, alright.” Roman threw his hands in the air and stood, moving to sit in one of the other chairs that stood on the opposing side of the desk. He exaggeratedly slumped into one, almost trying to convince his father that he was truly upset at being ousted from his previous seat.

Patton took up the chair that had just been vacated. He watched his son continue to act out while also petting Marshmallow. He really didn’t want to break his son’s mood or the atmosphere that had been put in place by the amusing actions of Roman, but it had to be done and the sooner, the better. Patton took a deep breath, “Roman,” he easily commanded the prince’s attention with the seriousness of his tone, “I know I said I would talk to you tomorrow, but I believe we need to talk about it now.”

Roman was a little surprised by the sudden shift and sat up straight before addressing his father, “Okay… so, you wanted to talk about the ball, correct?”

The king nodded, clasping his hands in front of him atop the desk, “Yes. I know you are excited about having the ball for your birthday and, as this morning taught me, you have your own vision of the event.”

“Is that a problem?” Roman interjected, almost a little insulted. He leant forward, determination blazing behind his eyes, “Because I just wa-”

Patton held up a hand to silence the prince, looking a little exhausted, “Please, Roman. Let me speak.” He waited until Roman had settled back down before continuing, “I want to give you what you want for the ball, that is not a problem. I will do my best to give you what you want, but you must know something else is at play here, Roman.”

The king stood from the desk and moved to the other side, taking up the second chair that sat there. He reached over to rest a hand atop his son’s, “You’ve been to some of these before, Roman. I know you have. Remember when you came back and told me about all the people who’d been attempting to woo your friend last time you went?”

Roman nodded, “Yes, I remember that clearly. I could barely talk to them the whole evening, so many people were trying.”

“I didn’t want to tell you until I had to, Roman, but that is what happens with a lot of these balls. Prominent, large families send their children to the balls with the intention of trying to get the host’s children to begin a relationship with them.” Patton explained.

The prince beside him quirked an eyebrow, “I know that, dad.”

Patton almost flinched at the surprise answer, pulling his hand back, “What?”

“Yeah, everyone who goes knows about that.” Roman shrugged, speaking as if it were the most common knowledge, “So many of my friends get sent to do the same thing, but they choose not to.”

“Ah, well… I didn’t know that…” Patton awkwardly coughed, “Well, Roman, you must then be aware that it will be something you have to deal with at your ball, right?”

Roman’s eyes suddenly lit up and he tossed his hair slightly, “I am, and I am extremely ready to be the centre of attention, like I should be. All eyes on me, so many of them wanting to talk to me and woo me, I am more than ready for that.”

Patton watched his son with something akin to horror in his eyes, but he tried to laugh it off, though it came out stilted. “Um, son, are you sure you’re okay with this?”

“Of course!” Roman proclaimed, “What’s so wrong with being the centre of attention? I don’t see any problem here, but thank you for the concern, father.”

“But son, you know that not all of the kids sent are going to be like your friends, right?”

“Yes, but I can still deal with it. I’ll be fine!”

Patton and Roman continued to go back and forth for a few minutes, with Patton earnestly trying to get his stubborn son to realise the true weight of the situation. Eventually, the king sighed and held his hands up in defeat, “Alright, Roman, I believe you. You are old enough to know yourself and I trust you to make your own decisions.”

“Finally.” Roman retorted, falling against the back of the chair dramatically.

Patton returned his hand to atop Roman’s, grabbing the prince’s attention once more, “But if you ever feel overwhelmed or need to talk, I am always willing to talk with you, alright?”

Roman nodded before standing with a confident smile, “Of course, father, but that will not be necessary. This will be the greatest ball the kingdom has ever seen, and I will be the most radiant of all!”

The king chuckled, especially as Roman began to coax Marshmallow – who’d been sitting between the two of them since Patton had moved – into some form of dance around the small study room. “Alright, alright, you get on out of here, son. Enjoy your day.”

Roman placed the dog’s front paws back onto the ground before bowing to his father, “I shall. I think I’ll go and practice my swordplay some more. I cannot allow Sir Virgil to best me any longer!” With that, he left Patton alone in his study with Marshmallow.

The king sighed at the closed door, a sad smile on his face. He made his way back to sit behind the desk, his eyes trained on a stack of letters that sat on the bookshelf he passed on his way. Patton felt sick as he stared. The pile was made of, at least, 30 letters, all thick looking and in detailed envelopes. A part of him felt as though he should have shared the content with Roman, but he couldn’t bring himself to crush his son when he was so excited.

Marshmallow placed his head in Patton’s lap, whining softly as he looked up at his owner’s sad eyes. Patton scratched the dog’s ears softly while smiling, “There’s nothing more we can do, Marshy. Roman knows what he wants, and I can’t bear to change that.” With a sigh, he stood and grabbed the pile of letters, “I suppose I should get through these before the pile gets even larger, huh?” The rest of his day was spent opening the letters, waves of nausea rolling through him each time he saw certain phrases and words. The letters were put aside, at the bottom of the lowest drawer so they could be pushed from Patton’s mind.

“Roman will be fine, he’s strong.” Patton muttered under his breath to himself as he stared out the window at the setting sun later in the day. Marshmallow sat quietly next to him, providing simple companionship. “He’s determined to get what he wants anyway, right, buddy?” Patton snorted as unmistakably familiar owl soared past the window and rose towards the highest point of the castle. Marshmallow lightly barked in response, which caused Patton to laugh.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter involves Deceit being a lil shit

Virgil sighed heavily as he put his armour back in place, feeling a lot more relaxed in his civilian clothing. He had some spare time and simply wanted to take that time for himself, especially after a few days of working hard with the new recruits. He thought about how well they’d done as he wandered over to the stables to grab his horse, which he’d instructed Demitri to prepare earlier that day.

After having to deal with the strange man and his extremely off-putting and unnatural-looking snake companion, Virgil slowly rode his beloved horse down the road towards the town, taking in the low afternoon sun.

It was one of his favourite things to do, just wander into town and patrol around the streets for a while. He dealt with many worries at almost all times, which extended to the people of the town and their safety, so this was one of his ways to quell those worries for a short time. Also, he knew that it made several of the townspeople feel safer themselves, so Virgil felt it was also his duty to go on a weekly patrol. It had the added benefit of getting his gorgeous Mhyrtia out and about, giving her the extra exercise.

Virgil smiled to himself as he leant forward to lightly caress the mare’s mane. He adored his beautiful dark horse in every way. She was loyal and well-trained, mostly due to the fact she had been his ever since he could remember. Mhyrtia was always wonderfully calm and friendly with all who encountered her, which made her perfect for doing these patrols.

The knight passed through the gate that separated the town from the castle grounds and was immediately hit by the noise of the busy streets. People wandered up and down the main road, some stood in small groups and clusters off to the sides chatting about whatever gossip was new that day. Virgil was easily able to recognise all of those who were nearest to the gate as they were the nobles, who lived as close to the castle as they could. Most of them noticed him and greeted him with fake smiles and false pleasantries. He responded with the minimum that was needed to be polite before making his way further down the road.

The nobles always rubbed Virgil the wrong way. All they ever seemed to want was more; more wealth, more power, a higher status, and they would use all the wrong ways to go about it. Virgil’s stomach turned as he thought about the multitude of nobles from the past who had done dealings with the most unsavoury of characters in order to pursue their unnecessary goals, some nobles forced their children to go to every high-profile party in order to try and marry them into a richer household. The worst part to Virgil was how they were all eyeing the throne, as if it were simply a title and a large amount of gold. None of them truly understood what the king’s responsibilities were, how busy he was each and every day, the amount of compassion and care he gave to every person in the kingdom and it really made Virgil’s blood boil.

He passed by the nobles’ district, face stoic as he continued to dwell on their disgusting desires and habits. He made his way past many businesses that lined the top half of the town, most of them being taverns or rest houses for travellers.

Virgil forced the horrid nobles from his mind as he reached the centre of the town. The market was just beginning to die down as many of the customers and stall owners were getting ready to head back to their homes for the night, but it was still a loud, busy area that Virgil both loved and despised.

Mhyrtia carefully stepped along the street, trying her best to avoid harming any of the townsfolk as she carried her rider around the large circle that sat in the centre of town. They’d decided to head around to the left first and they stuck close to the wall of the central building in order to not be too much of an obstacle. Within seconds, some of the local children came running up after noticing the horse and the knight. They pleaded for Virgil to let them pet Mhyrtia, who – without prompting – lowered her head towards the young children. All of them squealed happily and stroked her head, following instruction from Virgil in order to do it correctly. Their parents caught up and exchanged polite conversation with the knight captain before taking their children along with them as they headed on their way.

This was a series of events that happened multiple times on Virgil’s short trip around the town centre, all the while it was interspersed with polite nods and small acknowledging smiles to the vendors shouting over to him and other townsfolk around him. Everyone in the town knew Virgil wasn’t one for much conversation and had come to terms with the fact they would be extremely unlikely to get anymore than a sentence from the stoic knight.

Virgil rode down the straight path from the town centre towards the main gate leading out of the capital to the rest of the kingdom. He went to drop by the town guards’ barracks and office for surprise visit, checking everything was still in order. Virgil felt a shot of amusement at the alarmed and flustered faces of the guards as he walked through the doors. Everything was fine, and they had no reason to truly be so fearful, but Virgil understood and was more than pleased to know that his reputation was still causing such reactions. After spending half an hour with the guards, the knight made his way back up towards the castle.

On the trip back up, he took Mhyrtia around the side of the centre of town they’d missed on their first trip, though he stopped only a few paces around to grab a few pieces of fruit from a seller nearby. The rest of the walk back was a lot quieter than before, now that many of the townspeople were settled in their homes or were spending time in the taverns. Virgil ran into no problems, though he didn’t expect to.

Passing through the gates back at the top of the town and making his way back towards the castle, Virgil reflected on the difference he’d seen in the town since Patton had taken the throne. The man was well-loved and respected by all, there had been a significant decrease in petty crime and even the usual rumour mills were quietening down over time, which eased a lot of Virgil’s usual concerns. The town and – by extension – the rest of the kingdom were much happier than before, even though Patton’s father had also been a beloved ruler. Virgil mulled over the fact that it could have something to do with the war against the Yitra quite a few years back and the lack of their kind may have contributed to the decrease in the darker side of the capital, but he didn’t want to think about it too much.

Virgil rode Mhyrtia back towards the stables and led her inside, his mind still far from his present location. He reached into the bag attached to her side and pulled out one of the fruits he’d bought, holding it out towards the dark horse. Mhyrtia happily took it from her rider, clearly enjoying being spoilt. He always did this after a ride out in town and it was one of her favourite things, even though Virgil tended to give her sweet treats frequently throughout the week.

“You shouldn’t treat her so much. She’ll become a spoilt brat.”

Virgil physically jumped and span on the spot, his heart pounding. He caught sight of Demitri walking across the other side of the stable, tending to the rest of the horses that were there, “When did you get there?!” The knight asked harshly, stepping closer to his personal horse almost defensively, “and what do you know? She won’t do that.”

Demitri snorted and looked over his shoulder with a patronising pout, “I’ve been here the whole time, you just didn’t see me. And I know much more than you, I’m sure.”

Virgil scowled deeply, his lip twitching up slightly in a show of aggression, “Whatever. She still won’t be a brat, no matter what.” He petted Mhyrtia, turning his back to the animal handler. Virgil really wasn’t in the mood for the odd man and his antics this evening. He focused completely on tending to his own horse, taking all her riding equipment off and placing it in its usual spot. This did mean he wasn’t paying attention.

The knight reached to hang the last of the equipment up on the wall when something on one of the hooks moved. He screeched and dropped the piece in his hand to the floor as he stumbled back a few steps, hand clutching his chest. Behind him, he could hear Demitri laughing heartily. Virgil turned to glare at the animal handler.

“You should have heard yourself!” Demitri spoke through his laughter, “If only all the kingdom could see their feared protector scream so violently.”

Virgil growled and narrowed his eyes, “Just put that _thing_ away before I put it _down._ ” He threatened.

Demitri immediately recovered from his laughter, as if nothing had happened and it had all been an elaborate act. He stalked past the knight captain, close enough to brush against his body even as the man twitched away from his path. “Come, my sweet. It seems there are some innocent, harmless, _defenceless_ creatures who the wonderful, selfless Sir Virgil would dare harm. Let’s get you away from him.” He coaxed the snake, who’d been sliding herself across the multiple hooks that hung on the wall, back up onto her usual resting place around his shoulders.

The animal tamer followed the same path back the way he came, getting somewhat close to the knight once more, teasing him with the proximity to the snake coiled around his shoulders. As Virgil took two steps back once more, Demitri exaggeratedly gasped and gave a false apologetic look, “Oh, I am so _terribly_ sorry. I didn’t mean to get so close.” He casually continued towards the door of the stables, turning as he was about to step through, “Goodnight, Sir Virgil.” Demitri gave a sarcastic smile before disappearing into the low light of the evening.

After returning to his horse once more, Virgil returned to his room and sat down in the chair that faced the window. He looked out at courtyard, body still humming with adrenaline, fear and frustration. For some reason, the animal tamer seemed to know exactly how to get on his last nerve, pull ever lever and push each button just right to send him spiralling into annoyance and it really did get to Virgil in all the worst ways. He tried his hardest to relax but found himself too restless. He needed to rant to someone about all this and he knew exactly who he was going to go and see. The knight captain stormed out of his room and into the castle proper.

It was times like this Virgil was thankful for the friendship he had with the reigning king. He doubted that any previous king would allow him to stalk his way through the many halls and up multiple staircases at such a late time, or really at any time of day unless it was a dire situation. He remembered his father being unable to even enter the castle unless given express permission or having a validated reason, though all of that was far from his mind as he climbed the higher and higher through the castle.

Finally, he reached the room he wanted. Virgil slammed the door open, causing the thick wood to make a loud bang against the furniture that stopped it in its path, “I hate him so much, Logan.” As he shouted, a loud smashing and splashing caused the knight to snap out of his angered haze, which then allowed him to see the scene in front of him.


	5. Chapter 5

Ever since his first run in with the crown prince, Logan had been wracking his brain for any information he could possibly have obtained in his life that could explain the odd feelings. He paced in circles around his tower as he thought, he poured through book after book in the hope of finding some answers, he even made a trip to the castle’s library to look at even more books, but he was constantly coming up short.

It also didn’t help that these strange feelings were intermittent and only seemed to be available to Logan when Roman was around. This meant it was extremely hard to experiment with them.

This is the reason Logan had been spending more and more time wandering the halls. He was hoping to run into the crown prince and experience the emotions more, just so he could finally come to understand what they were all about, but it was almost a fruitless effort as the castle was just so large. He also felt like he needed a legitimate reason to be wandering the halls, so he could reassure anyone who asked him about his behaviour and he was slowly running out of the excuses.

Logan knew he needed to let it go for a while. He was getting nowhere, and it was frustrating him. He just needed a short distraction. So, when Strix flew through his window with a note from Demitri asking him to assist with healing a few of the animals, Logan was more than pleased.

He threw his star-dusted cloak over his usual clothing and walked at a brisk pace towards the front doors of the castle.

The wizard would never admit it, but he loved the drama that came from his cloak billowing behind him as he walked through the halls. He loved the fact he could be seen coming from any point along a corridor. He never left his tower without it, it was a part of who he was in the eyes of those who lived within the castle walls. It was also almost like a shield to a knight, something he was able to hide himself behind in order to protect himself. From what? Logan had long since forgotten about figuring out the finer details.

He stalked out of the front doors and took extra care in descending the steps outside, but his concentration was broken slightly by the loud clang of clashing swords and armour. Logan, after reaching the ground, couldn’t help but follow his curiosity and made his way towards the noise.

Logan stood at the fence that surrounded the courtyard the knights had designated for themselves, watching the current fight with innate curiosity. He didn’t know what it was, but something was keeping him there and having him watch this battle unfold. The wizard observed as one of the faceless, armoured warriors fought and over-powered the other with ease, feeling something indescribable at the display of strength and agility. It was almost like a rush of heat flooded his body though he had not moved and the temperature around him had not risen at all, but Logan didn’t have time to dwell on that as the bested knight fell to the ground. His weapon clattered down beside him along with his helmet, which he’d almost immediately removed as a clear sign of defeat.

The boisterous laugh that followed had Logan’s attention fully returning to the victor of the fight. The helmet was taken off and there was a sudden fluttering in the wizard’s stomach, in addition to the warmth he’d felt previously. There was just something about the crown prince’s slightly dishevelled state, with his normally pristinely styled hair a mess from the helmet and the clear beads of sweat rolling down his cheeks, that just had all of Logan’s thoughts grinding to a halt. The prince looked positively radiant, it seeming as though he was glowing from how dazzling he looked, fresh from his valiant triumph. The royal wizard was so lost in his vision of the crown prince that the world seemed to fall away around him.

“Ooo, so the prince, huh?”

The sudden sound of a voice had the normally stoic wizard practically screeching in surprise, as he also flinched violently away from its source. Logan grasped a hold of his chest as he stared wide-eyed at Demitri, who was leaning casually against the fence as he stared towards the wizard with a smirk.

Logan composed himself as quick as he could, “I apologise. I got a little side-tracked on my way over to meet with you.”

The animal handler dropped open his mouth slightly in mock surprise, “Did you? I had no idea.”

“Yes, well…” Logan cleared his throat and stood taller, determined to make Demitri treat him with respect, “Let us walk to the stables and see if I can help you with your issue.” With that, he walked briskly in the direction of the stables without waiting for the animal handler. He wanted away from the courtyard fence before his curiosity got the better of him and he looked back towards the prince.

Demitri stayed where he was, watching the cloak billow out behind the man who was walking away from him. He shook his head lightly and threw a quick glance over his shoulder towards the confused-looking knights before following after Logan.

Ever since they’d finished the tasks, Logan had been trying his hardest to figure out the strange feelings as they had just been particularly strong, and it was getting easier to figure them out if he could truly feel them.

Then he had an idea.

The wizard held a thick tome in one hand as he wandered towards the ladder that rested against the far bookshelf. With a simple flick of his wand, he cast a spell on the ladder and caused it to move around the room towards the bookshelf he needed. Logan climbed it with the tome still open and his eyes glued to the pages, managing to get the extra one he needed without looking up once.

The recently procured book was laid open on the bookstand, while the one Logan had been holding was placed on the nearby desk surface still open at the page he was heavily focused on. The ladder magically returned to its usual resting place without so much as a command from the wizard.

Logan flicked through the pages, in search of something particular and he almost slammed the pages down once he found it. “Finally.” He breathed to himself as he read the page.

It had the instructions to a potion that Logan had translated as practice for one of the olden languages he’d learnt in the past few years. He never thought he’d ever look for it again, but here he was.

Thankfully, he had all the initial ingredients he needed for the first step. Logan, before moving over to his potion supplies that were displayed perfectly and orderly on shelves around one of his desks, tapped his wand once against the cover of the book which caused it to float just a few centimetres off the wooden post. It followed at just the perfect height for him to read as he gathered all the ingredients he needed.

Logan rolled the long sleeves of his outfit up and read the instructions three times over before beginning the potion. The first step was to combine several ingredients and let them stew for half a day in a mixture of three liquids, which gave Logan more than enough time to gather up the rest of the required components. By the rest of the instructions, Logan could tell this was going to be one of the longer potions to complete – especially if he wanted its potency to be at it’s greatest. He was going to have to be patient.

The royal wizard rarely left the walls of his tower, let alone the walls of the castle, but he really needed to take a walk into town in order to get the final few pieces of the potion he needed. After rummaging around the upper floor of his tower, he finally found his civilian clothing as well as his plain hooded cloak which he tied around his shoulders.

Walking out of the castle doors and down towards the town, Logan was not stopped by a soul. Some of the guards lingering by the gates did seem to need to give him a few glances before recognising him, which pleased Logan. He preferred being unknown when amongst the townspeople. He didn’t want any of them to know of him.

Logan walked with purpose, making his way through the crowds towards the trading area at the front of the town. He slowed as he approached and turned into a side street. Logan casually glanced at wares that littered the space around him as he passed by many reputable sellers. He was doing his best to not attract any attention his way, especially as he slipped through an alleyway that led to the backstreets.

Here, Logan flipped the hood up to conceal his face.

Behind all the usual stores and stalls lay a darker side that most townspeople avoided at all costs. Nothing that was sold back here was technically illegal, at least not until someone would reach the farthest back areas of these streets where one would find some specialised services. Logan visited these streets whenever he ran low on ingredients as these were the only places within an easy travelling distance that sold them. With his usual grace and speed, the wizard swooped through the backstreets, following a path he was very used to travelling along.

He paused just outside a building with darkened windows and door, a wooden sign hanging at an angle due to one of its chains being broken. Logan knocked a specific pattern on the battered door and waited patiently. It swung open only a moment later and he stepped within its boundaries.

The shop was dimly lit and extremely small. If someone unfamiliar to the space were to enter, they’d likely feel a sense of claustrophobia due to the tightly packed shelves that covered most of the space. There was a path that led to a counter that was at the farthest end of the store from the door, but Logan knew where he was going. He sidled between the walls of shelves, finding what he needed amongst the dust-covered jars and bottles. Everything was made of dark wood, which only added to the sinister feeling of the entire building. Logan could hear the owner skulking around in the backroom, which resided just beyond the counter. It was accompanied by the soft bubbling of liquid and the splashes of things being dropped in it, which seemed to calm Logan slightly as it was a familiar sound. After spending a good while searching for his needed ingredients, the wizard made his way to the counter and waited for the owner to appear.

A pale, shaking figure wrapped in dark, dirty swathes of fabric approached the counter. They gave off an air of intimidation and mystery, but Logan was entirely unphased. He smiled softly and dipped his head in a gentle bow, “Afternoon, Ms Sharpe.”

The woman laughed, the sound raspy and unsettling to most, “Always the gentleman, Mr Pendry.” She was smiling wide, showing off her yellowed, disfigured teeth, “You’re welcome to drop the formalities, as I always tell you.”

“Where would I be without my manners?” Logan offered to the still laughing woman.

Ms Sharpe took time to package up all the ingredients he had taken from the shelves, which he did not fault her for. She was an old woman he’d known for years now, as this was the best store in town for potion ingredients. In return for a discounted price, Logan had spoken to the royals on her behalf and had them understand her role and place in the community, which meant she was left alone by the guards. She may seem like an ugly hag and she definitely scared some of the local children with her appearance and voice, but Ms Sharpe was one of the sweetest people Logan interacted with regularly. He didn’t mind her scratchy chatting, mostly because she didn’t pry into his affairs.

Logan paid the old woman for the wares, which he carefully placed in the hidden pocket of his cloak. It may have been fine for her to still run the business, but Logan was still wary about getting his ingredients past the guards as they tended to be sceptical of anything that came from the backstreets. He stepped through the door after thanking her.

He weaved his way through dim alleyways and twisting streets, which eventually led him into the residential area of the town. Logan dropped his hood back down, leaving him looking less suspicious. It was a danger to walk the backstreets with no identity cover, as it was possible for anyone to be hiding in any of the darkened corners and dead ends. If you were not covered, it was clear if you had a weapon or not and your intentions. Logan preferred to air on the side of caution and so dressed appropriately, in order to fool them all. However, he made sure to allow his face to show elsewhere in the city, just in case anyone mistook him for one of the more unsavoury characters that dwelled within the backstreets for their entire lives.

Logan was thinking about all of this as he walked straight back to the castle. He realised he couldn’t remember when he’d started to visit Ms Sharpe or when he’d decided to dress for the places he was going, it was almost as if it were second nature. All of that was unimportant anyway, it didn’t matter when, all that mattered was that it worked.

The royal wizard was once again unimpeded as he made his way back up to his tower. After the walk, he felt his body starting to feel weary, but Logan made sure to sort his purchases out before taking a break in the upper level of his tower.

Two days passed with Logan tending to and completing his potion. He was feeling a sense of giddy, child-like excitement as his project was nearing its end. When it was sat in a simple bottle in the centre of his potion desk, Logan couldn’t help but grin at the fruits of his labour. The sun was low outside as the final step had been to simmer the potion on a gentle heat for almost the entire day.

He couldn’t be too excited just yet, however. He hadn’t tested it, so he couldn’t be sure he’d done it right, though Logan was confident as he’d followed the instructions to the letter.

All he had to do was put a small amount onto a rag and rest it on his chest, allowing some of it to seep into his skin. If Logan had done it correctly, his emotions would be a little stronger than normal and he’d be able to notice them more, notice how they fluctuated and changed with different stimuli. Finally, he’d be able to understand them better.

Logan pulled out the stopper carefully and grasped the bottle. He held the rag to the top and went to tip it over when the door to his room slammed open.

“I hate him so much, Logan.” Virgil had stormed into his room.

Out of shock, the bottle fell from Logan’s grip and smashed once it made contact with the edge of the desk. The liquid poured out all over the rag that was held against it’s opening, as well as the floor and Logan’s clothing and some of Logan himself.

“Oh… Sorry Lo, I didn’t realise you were in the middle of something…” Virgil nervously rubbed his arm, the previous anger disappearing from his voice.

“It’s fine, Virgil. It won’t take too long to clear up but be more careful in the future.” Logan turned to grab another rag that hung nearby and used it to wipe himself. “Perhaps you should introduce knocking on a door into your repertoire. Might help you out.”

“Okay, whatever.” Virgil rolled his eyes, “Can I come in?”

“I don’t know if you deserve to.” Logan retorted, “Are you going to have me make more mess? Have me somehow break something else that I will then have to spend time mending?” His tone was turning venomous and catty.

The knight captain’s face screwed up, “Uh… no?”

“Well then, I suppose it’s fine.”

Virgil cautiously entered the room, but only a little. He left the door open behind him. It was almost as if he was preparing to leave quickly.

“So, what caused you to interrupt me so suddenly?” Logan tossed the rag aside harshly, as if it had offended him.

“Are you alright? You seem… off?” Virgil asked, looking the wizard up and down, “I was going to rant to you about Dee, but I’ll let you get some sleep instead… Maybe you’ll feel better in the morning…”

“No, no. It’s fine, Virgil. Please, tell me all the things you despise about that man as if it were the first time I were hearing them.” Logan sarcastically said, clearly getting more emotional by the second.

Virgil stood silently for a moment, looking at Logan with some mix of confusion and disbelief. “Yeah, yeah… I’m gonna go… See ya, Lo.” The knight captain didn’t linger. He was out of the door within moments of him speaking.

Logan scoffed and crossed his arms tightly, “Of course, he causes me to ruin almost a week of work and then just leaves. Disgusting behaviour.” Rage was building as he cleared up the spilt potion and the bits of glass that littered the floor. Logan continued to mutter under his breath about his anger and disdain towards the knight captain, and not once did he pause to think about his emotional response. It was only once he nicked his finger with a piece of the broken glass and he screamed loudly in frustration.

The wizard clapped a hand over his mouth, effectively silencing himself. His heart started to pound as the anger morphed into fear. His hands shook and he stared at his arms, which had been coated in the potion, “What have I done…?”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a warning: This chapter includes a heavy anxiety attack, blood, knives, swords, stabbing, injury and blacking out.   
> It is all at the end of the chapter and comes from Logan's heightened fear and anxiety.

In an instant, Logan was filled with a sense of regret and remorse as he remembered how he’d spoken to Virgil. It took no time for tears to begin pouring from his eyes. Logan removed his glasses but found that his vision was far blurrier than it had ever been, thanks to the streams running down his cheeks. He had no control over himself as he hunched over, the weight of his actions weighing heavily upon his back. At the same time, fear was seeping to his extremities as well and the wizard could no longer tell what was causing him to shake violently.

The rational side of his mind was seemingly trying to shout over the chaos that Virgil had taken it well, he’d just been a little confused, but that voice was drowned out by the overwhelming emotion Logan was feeling for the first time in a long time.

Logan flinched violently, his head snapping up and his eyes widening in concern as the thought passed his mind. For the first time in a long time? Had he felt this before?

Something managed to throw that from his mind, as he stumbled instinctively towards the door to his room. It didn’t matter at this moment, he could think about that later, now he really needed to find Virgil and ensure their relationship wasn’t damaged beyond repair.

Logan’s mind was focused entirely on his goal. He didn’t seem to notice where he was going or that he’d left the tower without the safety of his cloak. Logan just let his feet do the work in guiding him. He ran through the corridors as quickly as he could, paying no attention to any sound he was making. Thoughts ran wild, he wanted to find Virgil as fast as possible. If he were fast enough, perhaps he’d be able to catch his friend before he went back to his own room.

It was only once he was able to see the door to Virgil’s room coming towards him that Logan seemed to realise what was really going on. He’d been so lost in the sudden surge of emotions that he just wasn’t paying that much attention. He didn’t slow as he approached, instead Logan repeated Virgil’s own actions by slamming his door open.

“VIRGIL!” Logan practically yelled at the extremely startled knight captain. The wizard threw himself towards Virgil without a single thought, holding the man tightly in his arms as a new flood of tears came. He hiccupped out a long stream of unintelligible apologies on instinct.

If Logan had been of a sounder mind, he would have been able to notice that Virgil was all together confused, scared and uncomfortable. The knight captain was stiff and unmoving under his friend’s embrace, his eyes were locked towards the now-open door and were as wide as possible. Virgil was clearly trying to catch himself up with his current situation.

It took almost a full minute before Virgil was awkwardly reaching around his friend to try and console him, “It’s… okay, Lo. You… didn’t do… anything wrong?” Virgil was still utterly lost as to why his usually stoic friend was now clutching him tightly and weeping directly into his shoulder. Sure, something had been up with the wizard when he’d visited earlier, but it was nothing that really concerned the knight too much. Logan was known to have bad days sometimes and Virgil usually just left him to it. But this… this was something entirely new.

Eventually, Virgil managed to get Logan to release him. He had the wizard sit on the edge of his bed and headed out to grab a cup of water, with several promises that he would be back in just a few minutes and that he definitely wasn’t leaving Logan alone. Virgil had a fearful thought that this must be what he is like when he gets into one of his anxious states. He mentally had to push that down; Virgil had to focus on Logan right now, his own problems could wait.

“Okay, so… why the hell were you crying?” Virgil asked outright after handing the wizard the cup. He was seated in his chair, which he’d turned around and brought closer. He wasn’t exactly in the mood to be touched any more than he already had been, so Virgil kept his distance.

Logan uncharacteristically sniffled like a young child, the tears having finally slowed to something manageable, “I… I am unsure, to be honest with you, Virgil. I, I was frustrated and angry, to such an extreme that I yelled out and caused myself to pause. Then I… I seemed to suddenly remember what I said to you… and it hurt me that I might have possibly caused hurt to you.” Logan kept his eyes down at the cup in his hand. He periodically sipped in between his thoughts, as it gave him a moment to really think about what had happened and how he wanted to phrase things. “The next thing I truly remember is walking down the corridor outside your room and… the scene that just… occurred.” The wizard scrunched up his face as his cheeks flushed dark with embarrassment.

Virgil stayed silent after Logan had finished his fairly brief explanation as he tried to think of how to respond. This was all completely unlike Logan, the man always kept his emotions well under control to the point where several of the servants and many townspeople gossiped about his lack of them, almost treating it as a legend. Slowly, Virgil opened his mouth, “Well, I can say I definitely wasn’t hurt by what you said, Logan. I was more… confused, I guess?”

Logan’s head tilted a little in confusion as he raised his gaze to look at the knight, “Confused? Why?”

“Well, y’know…” Virgil gestured vaguely with his hands during his pause, as if it were helping him conjure the words, “Just, like… It’s not normal, for you, alright? You’re just always so calm and everything. It was just weird that you seemed so pissed off.” Virgil leant back in his chair, finally looking as though he was relaxing a little. “If it’s about that potion thing, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were doing that, or that it was so important or whatever; Dee just really fucked with me and I just… God, I hate him so much!” Virgil grimaced hard as the name of the animal handler fell from his lips.

The mage fiddled with the cup in his hand. He could feel his heartbeat starting to race and his cheeks heating as the embarrassment rose once more. Of course, the potion. In the whole mess of events, he’d forgotten that was reason for all of this and now he’d have to confess to Virgil about its effects. That would inevitably lead to Virgil asking why Logan would even want such a potion and why he would even really be mad about something like that, which then would lead to Logan having to tell the knight all about his odd reactions to the prince, which he really didn’t want to do because Virgil didn’t need yet another thing to hold over him.

“Woah, woah. Lo, calm down. Just breathe. Try and breathe slow for me, alright?”

Virgil’s voice sounded like it was far away, almost as if he were across the other side of the room. Logan’s vision was swimming more and more, he could barely register that his muscles had tightened to almost an unbearable point let alone the fact his breathing was insanely fast and quick, causing him light-headedness. All Logan could focus on were his spiralling worries.

If he mentioned to Virgil about the odd feelings, that could easily get out. It wasn’t that Logan didn’t trust the other man, he really did, more than most. He just knew that with more people knowing, the more likely it can be to spill out. Someone might overhear a small jab Virgil might make, or someone could even overhear this initial conversation he was trying to convince himself to go through with. Even then, if it did get out, it could spread through not only the whole castle but the whole kingdom. Many informants and notorious gossips lived in the capital city and they just loved to spread the latest news with everyone they could, especially on their trips out of the city itself. If it spread to everyone outside, Logan would likely find himself a laughing stock. That strange man who practices and searched for magic at the top of the tower in the castle was having such odd sensations around the prince, all of which were likely to be understood by the common masses, would make him a piece of public art for all to gawk at whenever he’d head into town. Logan would have to hole himself up forever, making little to no contact with anyone but those he specifically allowed himself to converse with. But, the worst part would be when the word got to the prince himself. Surely, Roman would be utterly appalled at the simple thought that such a thing could even happen. Logan was just another servant to him, another toy to play around with and practice his technique on, things he would be putting to use fairly soon by Logan’s understanding of the upcoming event.

Oh.

The ball.

Logan, unconsciously, began to rock back and forth a little as he continued to spiral into panic. Virgil was now a distant murmur, despite his continuous, louder attempts to call Logan back to the world. His breathing was faster, shorter, shallower, and was showing no signs of improvement. Virgil was still trying his best but was beginning to give up hope.

The ball was something that all castle residents were being forced to attend. Everyone who was even remotely important or of a high status would be there, and Logan was going to have to be present for it all. All the local nobles would know of him and his feelings, they’d laugh and snicker, tease him mercilessly from the corners and shadows of the ballroom. He’d hear whispers from behind him, see eyes flicking towards him, feel the gazes of many despicable humans watching his every move. He’d be utterly powerless to do anything about it as well, as not only would they be the brats that spawned from the disgusting nobles who would love to accuse the royals of doing something to their children in an attempt to gain more power, but all of the guard would be there to ensure nothing happened to any of the guests. There was no way Logan could get out of it either. It was an order from the King himself. He’d end up so utterly alone, as even his most trusted allies wouldn’t want to risk their reputation in order to check up on him.

Virgil had now given up on being respectful. He wanted to be delicate with this situation, but that was not working. His hands gripped Logan’s shoulders and he tried everything he could to calm Logan down, but Virgil could easily see that his words were not reaching the wizard. The knight shook Logan, pure desperation coursing through his voice as he tried with earnest once more to reach him. The wizard was still wheezing, but it was clear he was feeling the effects of hyperventilation. Virgil saw his vision beginning to blur with his own tears.

Back in his mind, the image of the crowded ballroom was darkening as the thoughts kept piling up and up, pulling Logan further into the dark void that threatened to swallow his mental image of himself. All the attendees were dark and faceless themselves, seeming as though they were wearing simple black masks with wide, unnerving, knowing grins. The knights and other staff were similarly faceless, all ignoring his pure existence. One of the attendees made a loud, snide comment as they glided past, causing the group they were with to laugh harshly. The lighting dimmed further, the furthest wall was not visible to Logan anymore. He couldn’t move his legs or arms, he couldn’t speak. He was stuck there and had to endure this torture. Another faceless figure floated past, this one purposefully pouring a glass of something upon the wizard. They turned and apologised in a fake sincere tone before chuckling as they walked off. The black void seemed to be crawling across the floor now, taking more and more from Logan’s sight. A sudden glint of silver crossed his vision as someone – clearly a suitor – wielded a knife and slashed across the wizard’s face. There was no pain, but his vision was clouded by the red stain of blood that was pouring from the gash. The suitor taunted him with meaningless words, saying things that implied Logan was entirely unworthy of his feelings and that not one of the guards was going to do a thing about the attack. It was true, none of the featureless guards had moved a muscle or even acknowledged what was happening in his corner. Suddenly, the wound on his face began to ache and itch. The shadows now encompassed half of the ballroom, taking all of that from his sight – the floor, the ceiling, the attendees, the decorations. The suitor glided off into the dark with a harsh, echoing laugh. There was then a jolt of movement behind him, another blade protruded into his vision along with more aching and itching from his back. A whisper of a voice came to his ear, telling him he was worthless, disgusting, a waste of life and he was finally going to see someone who had been very dear to him. They told him he should have stayed in that place back then, shouldn’t have even survived. He felt his world dimming further, not only due to the dark void closing in even more, but also from the sudden blood loss he was experiencing. The blade cutting through his body was twisted, causing him to attempt to shout out even though he seemed to feel no pain from it. A new voice spoke to him.

“Disgusting, vile creature.”

The harsh tone that was clear in the prince’s voice seemed to hurt Logan more than the blade currently pushed through his body. The blade was constantly being turned, slowly and torturously, as if the man behind him was attempting to cause him the most discomfort possible as he was getting close to drawing his final breath. The shadows were close to his feet now, still swallowing everything in front of him. Without hesitation, the vine-like tendrils of shadows rushed towards his body, almost like a wild animal going in for the attack. His vision finally seemed to fail him.

Everything went black.

Everything fell silent.


	7. Chapter 7

Virgil yelled as his feet pounded against the stone floors, running at full speed through the castle. In his arms was the still-passed out Logan. He wasn’t thinking about the time of night or how he might be waking others up, Virgil just wanted to get help immediately.

Just as he rounded into the corridor that held the door to the infirmary, two of the night workers stepped out into the hallway to see what all the commotion was about. The fact that they found the knight captain running at full speed towards them with a clearly unconscious man in his arms, looking utterly terrified, sprung them into action. They grabbed a hold of the knight as he slowed and almost collapsed in front of them, Logan still clutched tightly in his grip.

Virgil managed to choke out a few crucial details in-between his heaving breaths, “Logan. Passed out. Couldn’t breathe. Need help.”

It didn’t take much longer for the night workers to get the two men into the infirmary. Logan was placed on the nearest bed, which was easy as all the beds were entirely empty. Virgil was asked to sit on the one beside Logan, which then allowed the nurse who wasn’t busy with Logan to check him out too. Virgil insisted he was fine, that they should really just be focusing on the mage, but they wanted to do a quick check anyway.

In almost no time, the nurses cleared the two of them of injury. Logan was simply unconscious, but thankfully he was showing no signs of other issues and his breathing had evened out as well. Virgil tried to take their words to heart but couldn’t help asking for reassurance of their claims at least twice.

Virgil stayed sat on the edge of the bed, even once the two night nurses had left them alone in the room. They had told him they’d just be in the room adjacent and to not hesitate to call on them if something went wrong. His leg bounced rapidly, which led to his hands bouncing as he rested his elbows on his knees, which also moved his head as that was resting upon his hands. His eyes were trained on his friend’s blank face. Thoughts swirled as the knight attempted to make sense of everything that had occurred in the past few hours.

“So, all of this started after that potion thing… Logan was pissed that it broke, but that shouldn’t have made him suddenly panic like that… He never does that…” Virgil muttered to himself. After a moment, he growled and ran a hand through his hair in frustration as his head dropped to stare at the ground.

“You’ll end up causing yourself more pain if you continue to do that.”

The knight captain’s head immediately snapped up and he locked eyes with the now-awake Logan. Out of pure relief, the man practically threw himself over to wrap the mage in a hug. He then punched his arm hard when he pulled away a second later.

Logan flinched and nursed his now-aching arm, an incredulous look crossing his usually-stern features, “What was that for?!”

“Don’t you fucking do that again, you fucking asshole!” Virgil said, his voice shaking slightly. His hands were similarly shaking, but they were tightly gripping the sheets of the bed that Logan was resting on. When Logan gave him a look that proved he barely remembered what had happened, Virgil quickly explained, “You panicked about something, I don’t know what the hell it was, and then passed the fuck out when you couldn’t control your breathing. Fucking scared the shit out of me, Lo.”

“Ah…” A look of understanding replaced the confusion. Logan diverted his gaze from the knight captain, having it fall to his legs. Now that Virgil brought it up, memories were slowly coming back to him of what happened. “I am… very sorry, Virgil. I didn’t mean to cause you distress… The goal was to make sure I hadn’t previously…”

Virgil was now looking concerned. Logan’s voice was shaking, just like his had a moment ago, and his voice sounded thick as though his throat was being blocked. It sounded almost like he…

A tear fell from the mage’s face onto the sheets that covered his legs, creating a small dark spot. Then another from the other eye… and then it was almost like a rain storm. Logan was silently crying; his body being racked by the sobs he was keeping quiet. Virgil immediately shot forward and took up space next to the mage, so he could wrap an arm around his friend.

He waited until the mage was beginning to calm once more, “Lo, tell me what’s wrong. I promise I won’t do anything to fuck it up…” Virgil comfortingly muttered, lightly squeezing his friend.

“I-I can’t… They, they might… hear.” Logan stuttered out quietly. He nodded towards the door that the nurses had left through earlier. Virgil wasn’t sure how the mage knew the two of them were in that room, but he wasn’t about to question it at this moment.

The knight captain, with a slight wobble, stepped up onto the bed and over Logan’s legs in order to perch himself on the opposite side, his eyes trained on the door. “How about if you whisper it to me now and I keep watch on the door, so I can tell you if someone is coming?”

A moment of silence passed by as Logan seemed to be considering the idea Virgil had come up with and Virgil wasn’t sure of the outcome. He wanted to know what had caused Logan to suddenly get these strong surges of emotion, why he’d been so freaked out and passed out on him, he wanted to make sure his friend was going to be okay. But it was all up to the mage who was sat behind him. Virgil wouldn’t be able to learn anything if he didn’t want to tell him, and the knight knew he had to respect that if it came to it.

Thankfully, there was a shift of movement and the feeling of Logan’s steadying breath puffing just past Virgil’s ear, “You promise me you’ll not tell a single person?”

Virgil almost rolled his eyes and laughed, “Of course I won’t.”

“Okay…” Logan sounded unsure but continued anyway. Virgil listened intently, trying to not miss a single word. He stayed as silent as he could through the explanation of the potion and its effects, the mage’s confusion surrounding the prince, his panicked delusions and all that came with it. He stifled any reactions his mind almost forced him to enact, just so he wouldn’t make his friend uncomfortable or send him reeling back into his panicked state.

“And… that is all…” The mage swallowed audibly, pulling out of his friend’s personal bubble, “Do you understand now? Why I was so… concerned with talking about this situation? I don’t know what I would do if that information were to pass around to the entire kingdom…”

Virgil turned back to look at his friend, taking in his still uncharacteristic posture and expression. The man looked utterly defeated and distressed, his body was curling in on itself as if he was trying to turn himself into a ball in order to avoid this all. The knight had to bite his tongue before he spoke in order for him to pick the right information he should reveal to the mage, “Lo, you don’t have to worry about that. I’ll make sure no one knows about this, at least not from me. You should probably try and reverse this thing though, I don’t think you having breakdowns and screaming in the halls is going to help this whole secrecy thing you’re going for. I’m sure you know how to do that, right?”

Logan sat silently, unmoving as he took in Virgil’s words.

“Logan…” Virgil’s voice was low, dangerous, full of worry, “You do know how to fix this, right?

He acted childishly, avoiding looking at as much of the knight as he could.

“Oh my god, you don’t know how to reverse this…”

“No! I don’t!” Logan exploded. His hands came to clamp over his mouth, as did Virgil’s. In the resulting silence, the pair could hear movement coming from the adjacent room. The two dropped their hands back down, trying to look as casual as possible for when the two night nurses made their way through the door.

Logan was quick to assure the two that him and the knight captain were perfectly fine, just happened to get into a heated discussion about something fairly trivial. Virgil was impressed by the mage’s ability to keep himself sounding calm, because he could feel Logan’s iron grip on his own hand which was starting to get a little painful. Virgil really didn’t know Logan’s strength and he was paying the price for it right now. Finally, the two nurses went back into their room and Logan released his grip with a shaking breath.

“I almost lost my fucking hand, you fucking ass!” Virgil whispered angrily, nursing his now-throbbing hand. When Logan’s eyes began to well up with more tears, Virgil sighed and shook out his hand, “Please don’t cry again. It’s fine, I’m fine, my hand is fine…”

“I can’t help it.” Logan’s voice was once again choked, “I don’t want to cry, Virgil. I hate this. I’m so scared! Please help me, _please_!” He reached out and grasped a hold of his friend’s shirt, almost desperately gripping at the fabric as if it had the answers to his problems within its threads.

Virgil, with some effort, managed to pry Logan’s grip off of his clothing, “Okay, okay, _OKAY_! I don’t know how much help I will be, since this is all about potions and spells and whatever, which is definitely your area, but I’ll do what I can, alright? I’ll come by your room tomorrow?”

The mage smiled, tears still spilling down his cheeks. He wiped them away with a grimace of disgust, “Thank you, Virgil.”

“Don’t thank me…” Virgil stood from the bed and kept his back to Logan, due to his cheeks flushing a soft pink at the grateful tone of voice Logan was using. “You should rest. You’re probably still tired from earlier…”

Within seconds of his head hitting the pillow after Virgil’s suggestion, Logan was sound asleep. The knight watched for a few seconds over his shoulder before heading to the adjacent room to tell the nurses that he was heading back to his room and that Logan was sleeping in the infirmary. He then walked slowly back through the halls, his own exhaustion setting in after all the shit he’d gone through that night. Virgil found himself sinking into the mattress under him once he slid under the sheets. His sleep was dreamless and peaceful, once he finally succumbed to it.

The next day, there was a knock at the king’s bedroom door while he was still preparing for the day. It startled him slightly and set Marshmallow on edge, who softly began to growl.

“Who’s there?” Patton called out, using a hand signal to tell the large dog to calm down.

“It’s just me.”

Patton physically relaxed alongside his companion and made his way across to open the door to reveal the knight captain, “Virgil! To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you this early?”

Virgil chuckled and slipped in behind the king as he returned back to getting ready for the day. He knelt down as he heard the soft pads of Marshmallow heading over to him in order to greet him, “I just thought you might like to know how _they’re_ progressing…” Virgil kept his eyes to the dog’s head as he fussed over the pet.

It took only a second for Patton to be standing next to him, stars almost erupting from his eyes, “What?! Did something happen?! Tell me everything!”

The knight was dragged away from Marshmallow by the excitable royal before being deposited on the edge of the bed. He recounted some of the events that happened the night before, leaving out the details of Logan’s potion and his confession – Virgil did promise the mage that he wouldn’t tell.

Patton squealed happily and fell back against the extremely soft white sheets of the bed, his arms spread wide. It was impressive that even doing that, the king was unable to reach Virgil, but having such a large bed was simply a benefit of being the ruler of the kingdom. “I wonder how long it’ll take for them to realise how the other feels, Virgil?”

The knight shrugged, reaching back down to scratch Marshmallow’s ear as he’d approached once more, “At this rate, I don’t know if they ever will, Pat.”

“I believe in them, because they’re in love…” Patton sighed, eyes still looking up at the top of the four-poster bed.

“At least someone does…” Virgil said with a smirk.


	8. Chapter 8

“And thus, concludes this week’s session. I hope that you will find this informa- Where are you going?”

Roman visibly jumped as his tutor used an accusatory tone with him. He turned and grinned wide, acting as though he wasn’t trying to run out of the room they used for the tutoring sessions, “I thought you were finished, sir. I also have something planned that I need to be on time for, so if it is okay with you-”

“Sit down, Your Highness. The tailors will understand if you are a few minutes late. My classes do not end until I dismiss you. I tell you this every week.” The tutor sighed disapprovingly.

The prince knew better than to attempt to argue with the stern man. He trudged back to the seat he’d been slumped in and threw himself back down, his arms folded in defiance. He watched as the tutor raised an eyebrow at his actions but didn’t acknowledge them any further. Instead, the man went on a long spiel about the independent work he was assigning the prince to complete before their next session.

“Now…” The tutor paused, watching the eager prince sit up straight in his chair finally, “You are free to leave.” He had barely finished his sentence before Roman was out of the door. He sighed once more, the tiredness clear in the exhale.

Roman walked as fast as he could down the corridor, wanting nothing more than to be away from the awful, small, stuffy room they used for the tutoring session. He didn’t even know why it was necessary for him to still have these sessions. Sure, he was learning about the relations between his kingdom and others that neighboured nearby as well as several other important things he’d need once he took the throne from his father, but he still didn’t see why it was needed.

After turning a couple of corners, the prince slowed to a leisurely pace. His mind seemed to clear, and his mood immediately brighten. All he could think about was the upcoming ball, especially as there were only a few more weeks until representatives from all nearby kingdoms and all the noble children would gather in the castle ballroom to celebrate him. Every single detail needed to be absolutely perfect and Roman used any and all downtime he had to dream up the perfect party.

His thoughts were paused when he noticed two figures further down the corridor he’d now turned into. It was obvious from the first glance that it was the wizard and the knight captain, which was an odd combination in Roman’s mind, but he accepted it.

“Greetings, Sir Virgil and Sir Pendry!” Roman called from the end of the hallway.

Immediately, both of the other men seemed agitated. From the distance Roman was at, even he could see that they both tensed significantly, and their faces turned paler than he’d ever seen. The wizard turned sharply and practically sprinted up the corridor away from him, while Virgil stood his ground in the centre of the space, seemingly trying to act as a barricade in case the prince decided to chase after the retreating man.

Roman continued his pace, through he was extremely curious as to why his presence had caused such a reaction. Upon his approach to Virgil, he began to ask questions, “What was all of that for? Where did Sir Pendry run off to? Are you two hiding something from me?”

It was immediately clear that the knight captain was incredibly nervous to be near Roman at this moment. He laughed shakily and tried to seem calm, but failed miserably as his voice started to shake as well, “Why would we, need to hide anything from… from you, Your Highness?”

Roman cocked his hip and crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow in order to provide a non-verbal answer to the knight captain.

“W-well, anyway, Logan just… uh, I mean, Sir Logan needed to, um… do some… thing… really important.” Virgil was visibly sweating now. The prince watched one droplet slide from the knight captain’s forehead and down his cheek, which was swiftly wiped away with a sheepish laugh. Very suddenly, Virgil stood to his full height, “I just remembered, I had somewhere to be. Goodbye, Your Highness.” He turned sharply on his heel and walked briskly down the corridor, following the path the wizard had tore down only a minute or two prior.

“That was, by far, the oddest interaction I have ever had…” Roman muttered to himself as he watched the retreating back of the knight captain. It took the prince a moment to comprehend as much as he could about the situation he’d just been a part of. He was fixated on it as he continued his journey towards his own room.

His two personal tailors were already waiting for him once he arrived.

“I am incredibly sorry for the delay. I was kept longer than intended by my tutor.” Roman dramatically spoke as he entered through the large doors. The two inside were quick to reassure the prince that nothing was wrong, which had Roman smiling.

After ensuring the prince was comfortable and ready, one wheeled out a mannequin that was wearing an already completed outfit.

“Is it up to your standards, Your Highness?” asked one of the tailors with a bow.

Roman couldn’t respond with words for a moment. The piece was absolutely stunning. He’d given his request, as well as a few designs he’d quickly sketched to the tailors a few weeks ago and they had accommodated everything he wanted and did so much more. He approached it and gently ran his hand over one of the sleeves that were freely hanging.

“It is wonderful. You have truly created something from my wildest dreams.” Roman finally said, a genuine smile crossing his features as he turned to both of the tailors in turn to thank them.

If there was one thing Roman loved, it was getting a new outfit for a ball. They were always massive occasions and it was really the only place he could wear some of his more outrageous outfits. He was helped into the new outfit by the tailors and stood in front of the mirror, taking in every detail. How the pure white of the outfit contrasted against his tanned skin, how the detailed additions stood out as features against the garments as they were so bright and vibrant. He truly felt like a prince in the outfits he wore to the balls, and this was the best one yet.

The two tailors quickly busied themselves with pinning the extra fabric, so it sat perfectly on Roman’s body. They made conversation with the prince, getting him to elaborate on his plans for the ball and what he was going to do leading up to the event. Roman was more than happy to tell anyone who would listen about all the thoughts he had, so he began to ramble – which led to him going far off topic and just ranting about anything that came into his head.

At one point, he managed to get onto the topic of his sparring with Virgil and the rest of the knights, which then led him to talk about his relationship with the knight captain who managed to uphold such a scary reputation.

“I think he is far too harsh on everyone and really needs to improve his attitude sometimes. He barely even seems to respect me or my person, especially when he bests me in a duel. He is far too cocky for his own good. Though, I guess sometimes he can get rattled. I mean, when I ran into him on the way here, he was extremely nervous about something or other, which was odd. I’d never seen Sir Virgil so emotional.” Roman mused aloud, not really thinking about what he was saying, “Oh! Speaking of _emotional_ , I also saw Sir Pendry talking with him just before and the man just ran away when I called out to him. Now, that was extremely off-putting. I thought I was really getting somewhere with him, especially after all of that effort I put into our conversations…”

There was a light snort of laughter from his side. Roman turned his head sharply to look at the tailor, who titled their head up to make eye contact with the prince, “I’m sure your effort has not gone to waste, Your Highness.”

“Yes, I am sure Sir Pendry only left in a hurry as he had something going on in that odd tower of his.” Said the other tailor from behind him.

“Exactly. Do not think you did anything wrong, Your Highness.”

“We can assure you that your _relationship_ with Sir Pendry is far from damaged.”

Roman’s suspicions were aroused by their choice of words, “What are you implying? Are you both keeping secrets from me?” The only response was a small smile as the tailor who had been sharing his gaze turned back to their work.

The rest of the session passed in silence as Roman pondered what they had said with scrutiny. He did ask at regular intervals for more information, almost getting to the point of demanding they tell him what they knew or else they’d receive punishment. However, the tailors were finished before he got to that point. Both of them quickly removed the outfit from him and said their goodbyes, leaving the prince all alone in his room with his thoughts.

Roman, with nothing else to do with his time, resigned himself to attempting to get the independent work he’d been tasked with by his tutor earlier. But, no matter how hard he tried to focus, his mind was always pre-occupied with the strange behaviour of the wizard and the knight captain, as well as what the tailors had said to him that day. Even as he ate, his mind would not falter on the matter. This led the prince to walk out to the stables in the low evening light.

The best way for Roman to clear his head was to get out on Allegria. The feeling of being so free, able to fly wherever he wished in the sky was what he needed to throw away almost any thought that plagued him for too long. Roman assumed he would be unimpeded as he retrieved the pegasus, as this was not a time that Demitri tended to the horses at the stable. However, it seems the animal handler was mixing up his schedule as he was there when the prince entered the building.

“Good evening, Your Highness.” Demitri said as he bowed low.

“Good evening.” Roman responded, his mind solely focused on retrieving Allegria and just getting out in the skies.

As he reached her stall, Roman was able to hear the other man walking around behind him. He opened the gate and led the proud animal out before finding her reigns.

“Isn’t it quite late to be going for a flight, Your Highness?” Demitri asked. His tone was cocky, confident and definitely held a hint that he knew exactly why the prince was going out on a late-evening flight.

Roman didn’t even respond as he fitted out Allegria, so she was ready to be ridden.

“It is obviously none of my business.” Demitri spoke up once more as Roman hoisted himself up upon the pegasus once they were outside, “But, I don’t think this flight will help you as much as you think…”

Roman snapped his head towards the animal tamer, who was now wearing a smug grin, “What do you mean? Tell me, immediately.”

Demitri shrugged noncommittally, “It’s obvious that something is bothering you, Your Highness. I am simply saying that your usual actions are unlikely to help you, is all…”

The prince narrowed his eyes, watching every movement of the other for anything that might give away anything else, “I simply know that Allegria needs her exercise and that is all.”

“Of course, Your Highness. I must just be seeing things.” The animal handler continued to speak, even as Roman coaxed his steed into turning away from the scarred man, “I am sure it has nothing to do with the nervous state that I saw Sir Logan in earlier today…”

Roman’s interest was immediately piqued. He tossed his leg over to the other side and slid off of the back of Allegria, who was already frustrated at having to wait so long to get going, but he ignored her frustrated sounds, “What?! What do you know?! Tell me!” Roman approached Demitri, getting as close to the man as he was comfortable in.

“I just saw him running through the corridors earlier, soon followed by Sir Virgil and then yourself. I simply put the pieces together, Your Highness.”

There was something this man wasn’t telling him, Roman was sure of it. The glint in his eyes was giving him away. The only thing Roman needed to figure out was how to get the secretive man to spill and tell him everything.

“I am not going to elaborate further, Your Highness.” Demitri said with a victorious smirk, “It would be mere speculation and that would not be helpful to you.”

Roman could only watch as the animal handler walked back into the stable, his mind still trying to think of anything he could do to get the information out of him. He eventually gave up and got back onto Allegria. Just as he was preparing to get her up in the sky, he heard something from behind him.

“You have nothing to worry about. Everything is going just as you want it.”

The prince had no chance to ask for clarification from Demitri as Allegria, tired of this useless back and forth, took off on her own accord, making her rider scramble for a proper hold on her. This did have her receiving a verbal scolding, but she barely seemed to care.

The pair soared through the skies for a while, enjoying the breeze and the freedom, and yet Roman was still lingering on everything. What Demitri had said, what the tailors had said, how the two men had reacted to his mere presence. Everything was adding up to have Roman believe that everyone was simply hiding something important from him. Though every time he attempted to think about what it could be, Roman’s mind swung back to think about how the wizard had reacted and how everyone alluded to their relationship being fine, that nothing was wrong. It puzzled the prince, but also had him just aching to know more.

So, when his eye caught the lit-up window in the highest tower, Roman couldn’t help himself. He headed straight for it, assuring his pegasus companion that they would not be hitting the wall this time.

Roman was immediately overcome with a strong feeling of need upon seeing the wizard hard at work in his tower. Once he was close enough to distinguish some of his features, Roman had Allegria slow even further, so they were approaching as such a speed that it allowed the prince time to truly appreciate the sight of magic user.

The man was utterly gorgeous, even if all Roman could see was the back of him. His cloak was once again resting on the mannequin behind his bookstand and the wizard had his sleeves rolled up – presumably - to get them out of the way. His hair was a mess in just the most attractive way, which had Roman’s thoughts drifting to something that was far from appropriate.

Soon enough, the prince was within range of the window. He had Allegria stay in place as best she could as he knocked on the window softly. Roman watched as the occupant of the room jumped harshly and turned in the blink of an eye to see what the noise was. When he locked eyes with Roman, Logan immediately turned a shade of red that rivalled the adornments that Roman wore daily and he rushed up the spiral staircase, tripping twice in his haste.

Now, the crown prince of the kingdom was far more confused. He’d expected the wizard to approach the window in order to open it, so he could snarkily tell the prince to leave. But instead, he’d fled once more. Roman was lost deep in thought as he took Allegria back to the stable, rid her of her flight equipment and left her in order to return to his room. He sat on his plush window-seat, looking out over the darkened kingdom after changing for bed. There was no way their ‘relationship’, as everyone else seemed to enjoy calling it, was alright, not after how the wizard continued to respond to him. Roman’s heart ached as a thought crossed his mind.

“He must hate me for something…” The prince muttered sadly to himself.

It was only a minute of self-pity he allowed himself before a flame of determination sparked in his eyes. Roman had a ball to prepare for, that was what his primary focus should be. And if he managed to impress the wizard at the same time, well… that was just a bonus, right? Roman slipped himself under the covers of his bed, a new-found passion making him excited for the upcoming weeks. He’d prove himself, no matter what.


	9. Chapter 9

“Logan, seriously. I am doing nothing to help you. Why am I here again?”

Virgil’s voice called from the spiralling stairs. The floor around him was littered with heavy bound books, all in various states of repair. He had one open in his arms, his eyes staring blankly at the ink-filled pages.

The wizard whirled around, his eyes wide. It was clear the man was experiencing copious amounts of fear, frustration and stress, to the point where his lack of sleep was showing on his face. He held his arms open wide and laughed fakely, “I don’t know, Virgil. I don’t even know what _I’m_ doing to fix this anymore. Nothing is here. Absolutely _nothing!_ None of these mountains of books has anything even remotely helpful! I’m stuck like this. I’m going to be stuck like this forever!” Logan’s unhinged laughter morphed into sobs as he fell to the ground, shaking.

Virgil was immediately up and leaping through the discarded tomes and books, avoiding the large piles that practically made new walls between where he was sat and where the wizard had fallen. The knight kneeled beside his friend, trying to calm him down as best he could.

They had been at this for a week now. Every book had been read from cover to cover, every spell and potion translated and recited, every possible incantation thought of and discussed and yet they were still empty handed. Virgil looked around the normally pristinely organised room. The shelves that normally held the books were now empty, making it easier to see where certain ones had bent out of shape due to the pure weight of the books that had been left there for so long. The desks around had many jars and in-progress potions or spells. The easiest way Virgil could describe it was simply ‘an utter mess’.

Swallowing hard, Virgil attempted to distract his friend, “How about you take a short break from this? It doesn’t look like you’ve been out of this place for a while… maybe getting outside would do you some good?”

Logan seemed to freeze mid shake. He then shot up and grabbed a hold of Virgil, hugging him tight, “Virgil! You are a genius! I just need to try something different! Perhaps if I get out and experience more of the potion’s effects, it’ll wear off due to use!”

“That wasn’t what I-” The knight captain attempted to interject but was cut off by Logan jumping up off of the floor.

“Come on, Virgil!” The wizard seemed about ready to just walk out.

Virgil stood and dusted himself off, “Wait a second, what are you even going to do?”

There was a moment of silence where the two stared at each other in confusion. Logan then said as plainly as he possibly could, “I am going to spend the rest of the day with you, of course.”

The knight captain couldn’t bring himself to shoot his friend down, especially in his volatile state, so he agreed to allow the wizard to tag along with him for the rest of the day. He did give Logan a warning that the prince had a chance of appearing for a sparring match, but the mage waved it off as no problem – though a clear blush formed on his cheeks and his voice began to shake slightly. 

Upon arriving into the knights’ courtyard, Virgil couldn’t quite hold back a small smile when he saw how surprised the rest of them were when Logan exited the door behind him.

“Listen up.” Virgil called out once he stepped foot on the ground, gaining the full attention of his gathered knights. “As you can see, we have a visitor today. Sir Pendry-” Virgil gestured towards the man still stood upon the steps, “is here to observe what we do. You know what that means?”

All the surrounding knights nodded in acknowledgement. Virgil didn’t even need to say a word to get them to begin their training, all he did was gesture with his hand towards the equipment already set out.

Logan watched with intrigue. He’d never been fully present for a session with the knights, despite how long he’d lived in the castle, which meant he’d never seen Virgil in his most important role at the castle. There was something akin to pride at seeing the power his friend had over some of the knights who were actually older than him by a fair bit, and likely had far more training.

Most wouldn’t believe it due to their close relationship, but Virgil was in fact almost a decade older than Logan. And he’d been given control of the order of the knights at such a young age. His father had been ousted immediately after Patton had taken the throne and a fair portion of the knights followed, which left that at a severe disadvantage. So, Patton had done what he could and given Virgil the title of captain. They hadn’t known each other as long as Virgil had known Patton and Demitri, but they’d grown close extremely quickly due to their similar outlooks on life.

“Uh… Sir Pendry?”

An unfamiliar voice brought Logan back to the real world. He found himself face to face with an unmasked knight who he didn’t recognise. It only took a second or two for him to feel that his face was wet, so he reached up and touched his cheeks.

“You were crying, sir. I just wanted to check that you were alright.”

Logan’s face bloomed red instantly. He wanted to brush it aside, assure the young man he was perfectly alright, but shaking hands and wide eyes gave him away instantly. He stuttered out a response that sent the young knight back into the fray of his training, but it was clear the man was not fully believing that the wizard was actually alright as he continued to shoot concerned glances every now and then.

For the rest of the day, Logan stuck by Virgil. He followed him as the knight captain did his checks of the guards’ and knights’ barracks, which took a lot longer than Logan would have thought as he wasn’t truly aware of the amount of people they had on hand to fulfil these particular roles. Each of them was apparently supposed to be kept in perfect condition, with everything in order, though Virgil seemed to be fairly lenient with the rules as each room tended to be in a variety of states. He accompanied the man to dinner, which just so happened to be a time where he was sharing it with the king.

Upon turning into the dining room, Logan stopped short as he noticed Patton sitting at the head of the long table. Fear filled his every extremity as his thoughts ran wild, but everything seemed to still when Patton lifted his head and noticed the wizard. He grinned wide and stood, “Logan! This is a wonderful surprise! Please, come and join us!”

Logan bowed slightly, “Thank you, your majesty.” He initially went to take the seat beside Virgil, but Patton grabbed his attention.

“No need to sit so far. Come, sit over here!” The king gestured to the seat beside him, opposing Virgil, who spoke up as well.

“Yeah, Logan. The table’s big enough.” There was a hint of a smile tugging at the knight’s lips that gained a brief glare from the wizard as he passed behind the king to take up the offered seat.

Most of the meal was calm, which Logan was very pleased about. He was initially worried that they would be joined by the princes, but it seemed they were busy with other duties that day and would be eating at a later time. It was only as they reached the latter half of the meal that things began to take a turn.

“So, Logan. What have you been hard at work on? I hear you went into town for something a little while ago.” Patton asked innocently.

Logan almost choked as he’d not been expecting such a question to come up. He briefly glanced across to Virgil, who looked at him with a completely straight face. He regained some composure before responding, “I just happened to be running low on some common ingredients for potions. Nothing too extraordinary, your majesty.” It was a miracle that his voice stayed so steady, perhaps the potion really would wear off with exposure and use.

“Ah, well, I believe Virgil mentioned something about helping you out this week? I assumed you had a fairly large project on your hands.”

The knight captain turned his attention entirely to his meal, avoiding the accusatory glare that crossed the table. “I simply required an extra pair of hands. I prefer to keep my projects a well-kept secret, your majesty, just as a precaution. Wouldn’t want the information _slipping out._ ”

Patton nodded sagely, his gaze softening as he smiled sadly, “Yes, you are right. We wouldn’t want that to happen to you, Logan. I don’t know what this castle would be like without you. I know someone in particular would be extremely sad to see you go.”

Due to the potion’s effects, Logan’s surprise was clear as day on his face. “Wh-what? Wh… why on earth would someone, be so upset about my absence…? Especially if…” Logan trailed off, his throat threatening to close on him as he thought about his circumstances.

There was a moment of silence while Patton and Virgil shared a look. From Logan’s perspective, it was almost as if the pair were having a conversation through just their eyes. He knew they’d been close, Patton almost being like an older brother to the knight captain, but he wasn’t aware they were capable of this. When Patton started to laugh, and Virgil rolled his eyes, Logan was put even more on edge.

“Oh, come now, Logan, surely you know _someone_ who just _loves_ to be around you?” Patton leant forward, resting his chin on his hands as he grinned wide at the mage.

“I don’t know, your maje-” A look from Patton had Virgil smiling, “Sorry, Patton. Anyway, Logan isn’t exactly observant when it comes to people around him.”

“E-excuse me!?” Logan asked incredulously, getting an even larger smile to break onto Virgil’s face.

Patton, meanwhile, gasped softly and held his hands to his mouth in surprise, “You mean, he hasn’t realised?!” It was almost as if Patton was truly aware and was simply mocking Logan.

The knight captain leant back in his chair and nodded, arms crossed, “Yep. He has absolutely _no idea_ about that.”

Logan was feeling his frustration building. Normally, he’d have excused himself with a curt goodbye, but that was going to be impossible under his altered state. He wasn’t sure how he was going to get out of this utterly uncomfortable situation he’d found himself in.

Luckily, both of his companions stood and turned to him. “I’m so sorry, Logan, but the two of us have an important meeting to attend to. It is a private affair, so I’m afraid you won’t be able to join us.”

The mage felt relief soar through him. He stood himself and smiled a little too wide as he bowed in respect, “There is no problem there, your majesty. I should return to my tower and begin to continue my work anyway. Have a wonderful evening.” Logan turned and almost bolted from the room, eager to get away. Due to his quick escape, he wasn’t able to hear the shared chuckling of the older men.

He slowed the further away he got from the dining room. Logan was wracking his brain, trying to both understand what the two of them were implying while also trying to figure out an answer to his still-ongoing problem. “It’s clearly something magical… so there must be a magical solution… but who else can I turn to? No one else here knows abou-” His quiet mutterings were cut off as Logan’s mind supplied him with the perfect candidate.

The star-dusted robe billowed out behind him as he ran out to the grounds of the castle. Logan made a direct beeline for the only personal room that sat away from the castle, knocking rapidly once he stood before it. In almost no time, the door opened to reveal its occupant.

“Logan? What are you doing out here?” Demitri asked, confused and wary.

“I have a question to ask of you. May I come in?”

Demitri stood leaning against the tank that held his precious snake, leaving Logan to take a seat on the edge of the bed. He listened to an extremely condensed version of events, where Logan did just happen to leave a few elements out for brevity – and safety. “So, that is why I thought I should come to you. You’re the only person I know who may have some understanding of magic that I do not possess.” The mage’s eyes shined with hope, which made Demitri feel all the more uncomfortable.

The animal handler turned his gaze down to Pretzel, reaching down towards her as well. He took his time in responding to Logan, as he really didn’t want to think again on those horrific memories nor did he want to hurt Logan any more than he already had. Demitri sighed softly as Pretzel began to journey up his arm, “Logan, you know I was only a child… right?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Demitri saw the wizard deflate a little and shy away, “Ah, right… I seemed to… forget that for a moment…”

“It’s no problem, Logan. Don’t start to worry.” Demitri attempted to comfort the other, “I never knew much about magic, until you arrived. My talents lie here…” He gently stroked the head of the snake that was now curled around his shoulders. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be more help.”

“It’s… no problem. I am sorry for… bringing it back up.” Logan began to sound a little breathless. Demitri turned to him fully, looking towards him concerned. “Well, I shall leave you to it. I, uh, have things I need to attend to. Goodnight.”

Before the animal handler could even say another word, Logan was already running back up towards the castle. Demitri watched the man go, a feeling of guilt and pain lingering in his gut. It had been so many years… why did it still affect him so deeply?

Logan had no time to dwell on the past, however, as he ran as fast as he could through the hallways towards his tower. His heart was pounding, his brain racing. He felt awful for reminding Demitri about all of that, about their ties. Logan knew it was a touchy and painful subject for the man, and yet he hadn’t thought and caused him pain. _‘He can say it’s not a problem, but it’s clear to see that it still hurts him so much.’_ Logan cried in his mind as he sprinted along. Tears began to slip down his cheeks for yet another time that day, and he closed his eyes for a moment to pretend it wasn’t happening.

And, of course, that just happened to be the moment that someone crossed his path.

Logan went falling to the floor, along with the other body he’d crashed into. Both of the pair groaned in pain as they became aware of their situation. Logan raised his head from the cushioned fall it’d had as it, miraculously, had landed on the other’s chest and he went to apologise, when his voice caught.

Beneath his body, staring back up at him, was the crown prince himself. The single person Logan had hoped to avoid the entire day. His face burned almost immediately, and his mouth was left gaping as his brain seemed to leave his body.

His first assumption was that the prince would try and pull another flirtatious line out, but the gentle swipe of a finger across his cheek to remove a tear that was still trailing down surprised the mage. Logan sat up quickly, hands flying up to cover his cheeks. Roman followed suit, but slower. His hands came to rest upon the mage’s arms lightly, “Logan, is everything alright?”

The softness of the interaction, the amount of care that slipped through his voice, the use of his given name rather than the usual impersonal title. There was no doubt about the extreme fluttering feeling in his stomach and what it meant, especially when it accompanied the images that were running rampant through his mind. At least his initial goal had been achieved, though Logan was far from pleased with the result. Without a word, he managed to get to his feet – albeit slightly awkwardly as he attempted to also start running at the same time. He fled from the scene, leaving Roman on the ground.

A loud slam came from the door as Logan finally reached his tower. His back was against the wood, holding it shut as if something might attempt to burst through it with such force. A single strangled sob passed his lips as Logan looked at the mess on the floor. He didn’t want to deal with this right now. Even though he knocked over many books in his haste, the mage crossed the room and ascended the spiral stairs. He flung himself onto the sheets of his unmade bed, almost screaming into the fabric after doing so.

Hours seemed to pass before there was a knocking at his door below. “Logan? Are you here?” Virgil’s voice floated up to him. The mage made another muffled sound of agreement, which allowed the knight captain to find him. Logan listened to the sounds of Virgil making his way up the stairs and felt his friend’s stare once he reached the top. “Lo…? What happened?” He sounded worried.

Logan turned over to stare at the ceiling. He sighed heavily, dragging his hands down his face. “I am in love with him.” A brief moment of silence followed before Virgil let out a wave of relieved laughter, which caused Logan to sit up quickly to stare accusingly at him, “And what is so funny about this travesty of a situation, Virgil?”

Virgil took a seat on the top step of the stairs and looked to Logan with a wide smile, “Took you long enough to realise it.”


	10. Chapter 10

Despite the day of his ball fast approaching, Roman couldn’t help but find himself a little distracted by what had happened with the mage when he’d crashed into him. Roman had expected his usual response of a dismissive yet somehow still interested glare and deadpan retort to his flirting, so when he’d seen tears rolling down from his gorgeous dark eyes, his heart had ached. And then when he ran so fast, Roman couldn’t help but want to give chase. However, he left him be and now the prince hadn’t seen even a whisper of the man since.

Roman huffed and shook his head to clear his thoughts yet again. He needed to focus on the ball, everything just had to be absolutely perfect. So, he held his head high and made his way to the ballroom to see how the decorations were coming along.

Any regular citizen may have been floored to enter the grand room, but Roman just stalked in without a care. He was used to the tall walls that were intricately decorated with golden additions. His eyes swept around the room, taking in the decorations he’d specifically requested for his ball.

Ribbon-like decorations wound around each pillar that ran down both sides of the room and were, of course, in his signature red. More of the same spiralled out in a perfectly spaced pattern from the impressive chandelier that hung in the centre of the room, each of the red strips reaching out to the outer wall and attached there with a fantastically ornate bow that sparkled with every step Roman took. The curtains that hung around each of the windows and doors that looked out over the castle grounds had been replaced with red ones, which were a deeper shade than the ribbon in order to allow it to stand out. Tables were currently being set up in precise locations that Roman had specified and were yet to have any decorative aspects placed upon them, but the crown prince could easily envision the gorgeous flower arrangements he’d created that were going to act as the centre pieces of each table.

As he looked around, Roman felt like there was something missing. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was, so he instead wandered around the room to see if a different perspective on the situation would help. Throughout the room, more decorative elements jumped out at him, as their gold colouring sparkled and shined brightly. His attention turned to the stairs where he would make his grand entrance.

The most luxurious red carpet had been professional placed all the way down them on both sides and beautiful twinkling lights littered the bannisters, which would allow for the perfect entrance. Along with the easily procured spotlight from a local, trusted inventor that was currently being set up on the other end of the room, Roman searched around the stairs to make sure that the potions Logan had provided for them were in place. He was told that the potions would provide perfect safe bursts of colourful light that would not harm him, the guests, the staff or the ballroom in anyway and would not produce any heat as well. Roman was far too excited to get to his dress rehearsal and see how they looked, as he could only imagine the beauty that Logan could cram into such a small bottle.

Roman was ecstatic with what he had seen so far, so he turned and surveyed the ballroom once more. Then, as if a flash of inspiration hit him, the prince noticed what was missing. He’d not planned a single thing for the entrance way and that would have turned his ball into an utter sham if he’d not noticed it. Roman quickly stalked his way out of the ballroom and towards his father’s office.

“I just realised something that _needs_ to be fixed immediately!” Roman proclaimed loudly as he burst through the door of the office. It was when he was met with no response that he finally noticed the room was empty. The prince pouted and was about to walk away in order to return later, when he caught the sight of an open letter on the desk. Clearly his father had been in here not too long ago. “I’ll just wait inside for him to return. He can’t be too long.”

With that, Roman sat himself in one of the chairs facing the desk and waited oh so patiently for the king to return. And by patiently, that means he sat still for just a little over 10 minutes before he got bored and stood to wander around the room.

Roman hadn’t been in his father’s study for an extended period of time alone in a long while. He recalled times where he used to come and use the room as a hiding place during games of hide and seek. It brought a gentle smile to his lips, those memories coming flooding back as he caught sight of the picture that always sat on his father’s desk. Just a simple family picture of them all; his father, his mother, him… All but Thomas, as he was not yet born.

The sudden intrusion of the thought of his young brother caused Roman’s smile to drop. He still couldn’t shake the bias he had against his optimistic and smiley younger brother, yet he wished he could throw away the blame he once held against him. There had been extensive checks done upon both of them at the time and everyone had said the young boy had nothing to do with it, yet Roman still felt like he had to blame someone – and Thomas was his only option at the time.

Roman sighed and turned away from the desk, preferring to glance over all the books that sat in the shelves beside his father’s desk. His finger traced a couple of the titles, wondering if Patton had ever actually read the books or if they were just stored here from previous kings.

“Ugh. What is taking him so long?” Roman groaned, rolling his head towards the door. He paused for a second, almost hoping his question would be answered by the door happening to open, but nothing happened. The prince decided to take the large, plush chair that sat behind the desk, resting his feet up on top of the wooden surface.

The letter that had previously caught his attention was now directly before him and Roman’s curiosity gnawed at his mind. Surely his father wouldn’t leave anything extremely confidential around so carelessly, it wouldn’t be too bad if he took just one little peek.

Before he even knew it, Roman held the letter in his hands. He began to skim it, but as he caught different words, he ended up going and reading it thoroughly.  Roman softly read the worlds aloud under his breath as he went.

“ _We hope this finds you well._

_  
We are Lord and Lady Raussier of the Noble Court of Eastfront. We are delighted to hear of the Crown Prince’s coming of age and to receive an invitation for our children to attend the celebratory ball. As per the invitation, our daughters Dahlia and Valerie will be in attendance._

_  
In return for the Crown Prince choosing one of our children, we offer…”_

Roman’s voice trailed into silence as he read the list of offerings. It didn’t quite make sense to him, why would nobles be offering him or his father anything? Especially in return for him ‘choosing one of their children’? The letter only got worse at the end.

_“We hope his is all sufficient and that it is enough to satisfy. We hold hopes that the Crown Prince will choose one of our children._

_Regards.”_

The letter ended in a flourishing signature that was barely legible.

Roman placed the letter back onto the desk, face down just as he’d found it, before wracking his brain. He was utterly astounded that nobles like that were offering the king anything. What good would that do? Roman would have never even known about any of it as the letter was with his father and not shown to him, not that it would have made a single difference to his decision on his choice of partner at the end of the day. It was especially confusing as Valerie had always been a close friend of his, so why would her parents send anything along to attempt to pair her off with him?

The prince shrugged and shook his head, “Oh well,” He said to himself, breaking the silence of the room, “It’s not like anyone else would…” He stopped short as his eyes landed on the bottom drawer of the desk which was slightly ajar. From the brief view he was able to have, Roman could pick out the edge of an envelope.

He warred with himself for a moment, but ultimately, his curiosity won and Roman reached down to slide open the drawer even further. This gave him a much better look at the pile of filled envelopes that were stacked inside.

Roman spent a few minutes pulling out and reading a few of them. He began to feel nausea coursing through him as he noticed the pattern that each letter followed.

Each of them had extremely similar wording, all of them avoided naming him and only referred to him by his title, they all offered similar things in return for Roman choosing their child, all of them were so impersonal. It was almost like one of Thomas’ fill in the blank puzzles he enjoyed messing around with, just on a larger scale. As quick as he’d taken them out, Roman shoved all the letters back in though he couldn’t ignore the fact the drawer was almost full of the thick envelopes.

The crown prince huffed, putting up a front for no one in particular. His arms folded across his chest and he leant back in the chair, “At least they’re all interested in me. They know I am truly worth all they could offer and that I would be the most perfect one for any of them to marry, even if it is impossible for a lot of them.” Roman flicked his head to push his hair back into place, preening at the sudden thought that came to his mind, “All eyes are to be on me for my ball, and all these letters just prove it’ll happen tenfold. It is going to be perfect.”

Roman stood and brushed out the few wrinkles in his outfit, “Well, there’s no use in just sitting around in here, waiting. I’ll just leave a note asking Father to find me later and then I shall go and plan.”

Without thinking, Roman grabbed the nearby quill and scratched out a short message on the back of the letter that lay down on the desk. He placed it back and almost floated out of the room, his already boosted ego inflated further by the twist he’d put on those disgusting communications. Though, in the back of his mind, the image of another pile of several more of those letters yet to be opened lingered, almost as if it were an omen of things to come.


	11. Chapter 11

Roman was restless. For a while now, he’d been pacing back and forth in his room. He’d attempted to get to sleep, but his mind just would not stop running and had him tossing and turning the entire time. Roman didn’t know what to do about it. He had so much to do the next day, with the dress rehearsal of all the planned entrances, the finer details being finalised and all sorts of people to contact and check in on. He desperately needed to be well rested, so this was turning into a huge problem.

It was as if there was a large rock in his stomach that had steadily been growing larger and larger as the day progressed. Each time he thought back to the letters, Roman had to swallow hard to avoid letting it show how much the messages were affecting him. Every time he passed by a servant and they curtseyed or bowed with a greeting of “your highness”, the lump grew heavier and heavier. Roman didn’t want to admit it, but he hated that he was known as just a title to some people.

Of course, not everyone was going to be allowed to use his given name but even just “Prince Sanders” would have been better than something so impersonal. He’d carried the weight all day and only now, in the isolation of his own room, was Roman truly able to feel it. He wanted to fix it. Roman desperately wanted the feeling to go away. He wanted to know he was able to make his own choices, to know he wasn’t just bound to his title and the expectations to choose the one noble or visiting royalty who offered the largest compensation. There was only one person he could talk to.

Minutes passed as Roman continued his pacing. Finally, a knock sounded on his door and it opened slightly. “Your highness? Did you call for me?”

Roman flinched slightly, “Yes, I did, Oliver. Do you know where my father is right now?” He spoke through gritted teeth.

Oliver stood tall, unmoving, almost emotionless, “Yes, sire. He is in his room with the young Prince.”

“Right. I am going to visit him.” Roman stalked out of the room. Oliver opened the door further to allow him to pass easier, which allowed the crown prince to stop beside him. Roman made direct eye contact with his personal servant, his gaze soft and vulnerable for the first time in years with the man, “Please do try and use my name, Oliver.”

A brief flicker of surprise crossed Oliver’s face, but he ultimately smiled gently and nodded, “I will do my best… Roman.” Suddenly, arms wrapped around the servant and the prince was hugging him tightly, whispering a soft thank you before he wandered off down the hallway.

Roman made his way towards his father’s bedroom, his heart now noticeably lighter. The rock in his stomach was lifted slightly too, making him feel much more like his usual self. He knocked gently on his father’s door after reaching it and wasn’t made to wait long as he was called in.

“Oh, hello Roman. Is everything alright?” Patton looked towards the door, clearly not expecting to see his eldest at this time of night.

“Ro-ro! Come and have story time with us!” Thomas reached out towards his brother, a wide grin on his face, “You do stories so well!”

Roman couldn’t help the genuine smile that crossed his face at his family. It was utterly precious to see his younger brother sat in the lap of his father in the window seat, both of them backlit by the soft moonlight that was coming through the tall window. Marshmallow was also close by, curled up in his bed just to the side. It seemed like just a normal family image to Roman, the only indication of their high status was the rest of the room and the view outside, which held a portion of the rest of the castle.

He closed the door softly and walked further into the room, standing before his father. “I was… having a hard time falling asleep and I realised I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Patton’s face turned grim quickly. He pulled his legs in, creating a small space at the end of the window seat. “Take a seat. I’ve been wanting to talk to you about something too…”

Roman hesitated. He didn’t want to intrude on the time his father and his brother were spending together, but he knew this wouldn’t go anywhere if he didn’t follow an order. So, Roman sat himself in the space. It was small, and he did feel a little squished up to the rest of his family, but it was undeniably comfortable.

The king immediately began to speak. “I’ve wanted to tell you both a story for a while, but I never knew the right time to do it. Maybe now is the best time...” Patton picked up Thomas from his lap and moved to hang his legs off of the edge, giving Roman more room. Thomas was placed back down, but the young boy turned in his grip to look up at his father.

“Now, both of you will come a point in your lives where people will begin to expect you to have a partner and it will be almost like a fight for your attention from all sides, and from so many different people.” Patton’s voice was tired, “But the story I’m going to tell you is a true story of a prince who defied what people expected of him and lived the way he wanted.” He then began the story.

Years ago, a young prince was having to juggle a lot of responsibilities. Both of his parents were dealing with the fallout from a recent disagreement with a neighbouring kingdom, which left only him as the member of the royal family who was free to handle a fair amount of the other issues. He was still only a young child, but so much was already placed upon his shoulders. During this time, there were only a few hours a day where the young prince was able to get away and relax.

He had a couple friends who lived within the castle who he could play with. One was a boy around his age who he’d managed to save from an awful fate, the other was a young girl who was the child of a high-ranking teacher within the castle walls. All three of them were as close as can be, though something would happen in the coming years that would throw their friendship into a slight moment of turmoil.

The young prince’s parents fell ill soon after his 16th birthday and both did not survive for long. Their deaths were hard on the prince. Not only did he have to process their deaths and the fact they weren’t around anymore, but he was immediately placed with the title of king. The young prince had lost everything, and his world was falling down around him, only a few people left in the world could help him. Unfortunately, one of them refused to enter the castle, so the young man was left with just one person who could reach him.

Over time, the young king got used to his role and managed to get through the death of his parents, though the thought still hurt whenever it came up. He also found himself falling in love with the one who’d cared for him over the years and – despite the countless offers from nobles within his own kingdom and royals from neighbouring ones – they ended up beginning a relationship that led to marriage.

The kingdom prospered as the king was finally happy. He rebuilt the land’s trust in the royal family, had a beautiful child that all adored, reconnected with old friends and overall made everyone as happy as could be. A decade of prosperity and happiness was in front of the king. But, it was not to last forever, as tragedy struck once more. The love of his life, after birthing yet another wonderful child into the world, caught a deadly disease and passed within weeks of the child’s birth.

The king mourned harshly but found that he was able to power through thanks to the people he had surrounded himself with. No one turned his love against him, telling him he was wrong for falling for someone of lesser status to him or that this was the world’s way of punishing him for doing such a thing – which had been a tall tale told to many a prince that the king had crossed paths with in his younger years. They supported his choice to run his kingdom alone as no one could replace the mother of his children and the love of his life.

“So, you see, boys. It doesn’t matter what they say, or what they write in letters. You need to listen to your hearts, rather than tradition.” Patton finished, smiling softly at his two children who’d been watching him weave his tale.

Thomas was staring at him intensely, seemingly trying not to cry, “What happened to the king, Papa?”

Patton looked down at the young boy still seated in his lap, “The king went on to live a wonderful life, filled with so much joy as he raised his two children.” The king’s arms wrapped around Thomas after the young boy threw himself towards him, hugging him tightly.

Meanwhile, Roman was now staring at his hands as they were clasped together tightly in his own lap. He was deep in thought, mulling over what Patton had just said. Roman had no idea what his father had gone through at such a young age, he couldn’t imagine the pure pain of losing both of his parents even after losing just one. But he understood what his father was trying to tell him. A gentle smile pulled at his lips as he turned to look at Patton. Without a word, he shuffled closer and joined the hug.


	12. Chapter 12

The ball had been fast approaching and, before anyone knew it, the day before the party arrived. At least, that was how most of the castle’s inhabitants felt about it ‘suddenness’. Virgil had, unfortunately, been highly aware of the passing of the days, as he was spending all of his free time with his friend, attempting to keep him calm. He sighed from his now usual seat on the bottom of the steps up to the higher level, watching the mage in front of him

“Virgil. I can’t do this. There is no way I can go! It’s _tomorrow_! And I’m still _like THIS!_ ” Logan paced back and forth, his hands running through his hair over and over.

The knight tilted his head back with a heavy breath, “We’ve been over this. You have to go. It’s a direct order from both the king _and_ the prince.”

“I know! And I _HATE_ it!” Logan cried out, turning sharply to stare hard at his friend. The wizard quickly scrunched his face up and buried it in his hands with a light groan, “I’m sorry, Virgil. I don’t mean to yell at you…”

A gentle, understanding smile crossed Virgil’s face. He stood quietly and reached out to rest his hand on Logan’s shoulder, “I know. I don’t take it personally. Just… try and chill a little before tomorrow?” He waited for Logan to nod before he passed by, “It’s getting late and I have a lot to do in the morning. You’ll be alright, won’t you?”

“I will be. Thank you, Virgil. For all of your help.” Logan bowed slightly in respect, “I know this can’t have been easy on you, but you have been so patient, and I do not know how I could possibly make it up to you.”

Virgil laughed gently, “It’s okay, L. I’ll figure something out. Goodnight.” The knight was out of the room before Logan could even begin to think of a response, though he did hear the man yelling down asking him what he meant. Virgil just continued walking, a mischievous grin growing with each passing second. He took the most direct path he could towards his room, ready to lay down and get some well-needed rest.

As soon as he took a single step inside, Virgil felt himself relax. His room was where he was most comfortable, where he could just be himself entirely. It was highly unlikely anyone would just come and burst through his door – though Logan had proven him wrong a few weeks ago – so he felt no need to keep up his scary façade. Virgil pulled his towel from its hook and wandered into his private bathroom.

The water cascading down onto him only relaxed him further. The sweat and dirt from the past few days was finally being washed away, leaving Virgil feeling far more human. There was just something about being under the water like this that had the knight captain thinking about the events of the past few weeks.

He’d done everything he could for Logan, but there really did seem to be no cure. Even after Virgil had made the suggestion to check the recipe of the potion, which he’d assumed Logan had already done, they were no closer to finding a way to dispel its effects. While he was still worried about the mage, Virgil’s mind had already come to the conclusion that there was really no way for him to help anymore. All he could really do was ensure Logan stayed as calm as possible, which he’d slowly been getting better at.

With a heavy sigh, Virgil shrugged to himself before turning off the water and drying himself off. He wandered back out to his room in order to make sure his ceremonial armour was still in good condition. He considered spending a bit of time polishing it before sleeping, but the tiredness was grabbing a hold of him, so Virgil decided to put it off until morning. He crawled into bed and fell asleep quickly, curled up in his corner of cushions that rested against the wall.

The morning was hectic. Virgil, after giving himself enough time to wake up and de-stress a little, had begun his rounds, checking in on all of the knights. He was already in his armour, helmet tucked under his arm as he made sure all of them were close to being ready. The knight captain ended up waiting in the large hallway for them all to line up. As he waited, Virgil wondered how it must be going up with Patton and the princes.

“Good morning, Sara! How are you?” Patton greeted the young servant with a grin after calling for her to enter his room.

She curtsied deep, but ultimately returned his smile, “I am fine, your majesty. I was told you wanted to see me this morning?”

Patton furrowed his brow for a moment before he remembered, “Ah, yes! I wanted to ask if it would be alright for me to come along to help Thomas get ready today.”

Sara was speechless for a moment. Her eyes flickered around the room in confusion, “O-of course, your majesty. Why did you feel you needed to ask permission from me?”

“I know you look after Thomas day after day, and I thank you for that. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t stepping on your toes.” Patton said softly, approaching the young woman. “I felt today was a day I should spend with both of my sons.”

Sara wasn’t sure of how to respond. She searched for words, her mouth opening and closing several times. Eventually, she settled for another curtsey, “I shall see you over at the young prince’s room, your majesty.”

Patton nodded with a soft smile before letting Sara go on her way. He turned back to his room, after closing the door with a sigh. He had to make sure Thomas understood what was happening today and check in on Roman, but he first had to get himself ready.

Even as a prince, Patton had refused help in dressing himself, unless it was something brand new being tailored for him. This also meant Patton had no one to consult for outfits, though he was still aware that certain parts of certain outfits were made to go together. It didn’t make this initial job any easier on him, as he stared at the mass of clothes hanging in his enormous walk-in wardrobe. “Well… I better get a move on.” Patton muttered to himself, puffing out a large breath to make his lip vibrate momentarily. It took him a good few minutes of pulling out different outfits and putting them back again, but eventually he settled on something that wouldn’t take away from his son’s day.

He knew that Roman was going to be the centre of attention, no matter what Patton wore, but he still wanted to make sure that there was no chance of Roman even considering the thought. A quick run through of his usual morning routine followed before Patton was making his way through the castle, towards his sons’ rooms.

Patton was still a corridor away when he heard the loud laughter of his youngest son and the gentle barks of his beloved companion. Such a mundane series of sounds brought a shining smile to his face. It wasn’t just a happy ending he’d added to his story a few days ago, it was true. His sons were the most important thing in the world to him.

“Where’s my Thomas?” Patton threw the door to the young prince’s room open as soon as he got there. A loud squeal followed, and Patton was crouching down to catch the boy running up to him and lift him into a hug.

“Good morning, Papa!” Thomas wriggled in his arms, attempting to get comfortable and hug his father tighter. Down on the floor, Marshmallow was circling Patton’s legs before propping his front paws up on Patton’s thighs, attempting to reach up to give both the Sanders all of the kisses he could possibly give.

The three began to talk and play, which had Thomas’ laughter returning in full force and distracting Patton from his initial reasoning for coming to his son’s room. Across the room, Sara stood with her arms full of the small prince’s outfit that he was supposed to be changing into. She watched the father and son enjoying their time together with a conflicted smile. A part of her knew she should really get them to stop, but how was she supposed to get _the king_ to do anything?

“Oh!” Patton said suddenly, catching Sara’s attention. He was looking over to her, Thomas still in his arms, “I completely forgot that we were supposed to be getting you ready, Thomas!”

Thomas pouted and cuddled closer to his dad. He whined a little, “Papa, do I have to wear that? I don’t like it. It’s itchy and bad!”

The king placed his son back on the ground, staying down at his level after getting Marshmallow to sit beside the young prince, “I’m afraid you do, son, but how about I help you with it?” Patton couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up through him when Thomas’ attitude changed, and he nodded vigorously.

Patton stood and approached Sara with the young prince and the large white dog at his heels. He took the clothing from her arms with a soft smile before leading Thomas into the spacious walk-in wardrobe. It took a fair amount of struggle and a lot of laughter, but the prince was soon dressed in his soft pink outfit. Patton had been pleasantly surprised when his youngest had said he wanted such a colour, but it had made a lot of sense once Thomas had insisted he be like his older brother.

While helping Thomas get ready, Patton explained what the ball was for in the simplest way he could. The king was aware that his youngest hadn’t exactly realised the point of the story he’d told a few days ago, but he still needed Thomas to understand.

“So, people are coming because they want Ro-ro to marry them?” Thomas asked as Patton finished clasping the front of his jacket together, his head tilted adorably.

“That’s right.” Patton spoke softly.

Thomas curled his little hands into fists and pushed them hard towards the ground as he stamped his foot, “That’s not fair! Ro-ro already loves someone! They should not come!”

Patton chuckled lightly, ruffling the young prince’s hair, “I know, son, but Roman’s not going to let any of them change his mind. He’s going to listen to his heart.”

“Good!” Thomas bounced up, a sunny grin on his face. “I know Ro-ro loves Mr Magic and Mr Magic loves Ro-ro so much!”

Patton snorted and grinned wide himself, “If only Roman could see it.” He muttered under his breath. When Thomas asked him what he said, Patton waved it off as unimportant.

They exited back into Thomas’ bedroom and Patton sat him down at the vanity. Sara had already set out every product that was going to be used to finish getting Thomas ready. Patton left her to attend to that, as it was far from his area of expertise and she had a lot more experience with how his youngest liked all of that. He promised Thomas he’d see him a short while before heading across the hall to Roman’s room. Patton also instructed Marshmallow to keep an eye on his son as well, which the dog did without much coercion, sitting beside the vanity calmly.

After a call to enter followed his knock, Patton pushed open the door, “How are you feeling, son?”

Roman spun to face him, eyes slightly wild and his hair a mess from where he’d clearly been running his hands through it. He still put up a confident smile, though the look of panic gave him away, “I am, of course, fine, father. I am more than ready; can’t you see that?”

Patton shut the door behind him and approached Roman, placing his hands on his eldest’s shoulders, “You’ll be fine, Roman. Just remember what we talked about…”

The crown prince sighed. Once his father’s hands had rested so gently on his shoulder, they’d sagged as Roman put down his attempt of a façade. “But what if it doesn’t go well…?”

“Just believe in yourself, son. It will go just as you want it, I can assure you. If anyone even attempts to step out of line, Virgil and his knights are under strict orders to stop them.” Patton assured Roman. As Roman lifted his head to look up at his father, he noticed that his expression was still soft, but his eyes held a determined fire that Roman had not seen before.

Roman let out a steadying breath before smiling, “Thanks, dad.”

“Anything for you, son!” Patton grinned, back to his ever-friendly persona. He then began to steer Roman towards the vanity across the room, “Now, let’s sort out that mess of hair, shall we?”

Even though Roman huffed and protested as his father reached for the hairbrush that was laying out on the surface, he never attempted to stop the man from sorting his hair. It was unfamiliar, but such a wonderful experience to share with his dad. The two began to discuss the idea they’d come up with a few days prior.

Up in his tower, Logan was avoiding looking at the dress robes he was supposed to be changing into. Every time his eyes even caught a glimpse of them, he felt nauseous. The wizard knew he’d have to do it eventually, but he still put it off for as long as he could. Finally, with little time to go before he had to be present in the ballroom, he changed into the clothes. It was the most extravagant outfit he owned, disregarding his precious cloak. It was hard to believe that he owned this, that he was allowed to wear it, that it was an actual gift from the king himself.

Logan stood in the centre of his room, cloak thrown over his shoulders protectively. He thanked every deity that he’d been given permission to wear it for the ball. His eyes were trained on the door in front of him.

“I guess I must. How do I look?” His voice shook as he glanced to his owl. Strix looked at him and blinked once before turning away. Logan narrowed his eyes and sighed, “I guess that’s a good sign from you.”

One slow and steadying breath later, the mage had walked through the door to his tower and began his journey to the ballroom. His fear and nerves rose with each step he took, but Logan took every measure he could to keep it at a reasonable level on the outside. Using all of his learned techniques from Virgil, Logan was able to reach his position within the grand ballroom. He stood in the far corner of the room, beside the extravagant staircase that the royals were to descend once the ball was to begin. He made sure to check each of his potions that created the fireworks, his hands and legs shaking as he did so. A sudden wave of memories came through his mind and Logan knew his face was bright red.

They’d had a rehearsal of the family’s entrances two days prior and everything had gone perfectly, leaving everyone extremely pleased and excited. Though Logan had a single issue with the whole thing. Roman had been just too distracting.

Once he’d set off the potions to accompany his entrance, Logan’s full attention had been captured by the crown prince. He was stunning, radiant, gorgeous; every other word Logan’s wide vocabulary could conjure to describe just how wonderful the prince had looked. The mage couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but there was something different about Roman that day, his smile was wider and brighter and his posture just a little straighter. He wasn’t sure what had changed, but it gave Roman a presence that just commanded his attention and would not let it go. There had been a moment where the pair had locked eyes and Logan would have sworn on the grave of every ancestor he had that the prince’s gaze had softened in that brief window of time, but it was something he was not going to mention to anyone.

A hand rested on Logan’s shoulder, making the wizard physically jump and flinch. His hand came to hold his chest, the other covering his mouth as he yelped at the same time.

“Sorry, Sir Pendry. I forgot you might be a little on edge today. I wanted to see if you were alright?” Virgil addressed him with his knight captain voice.

Logan, his body still thrumming with nervous energy and his insanely high heart-rate, composed himself as best he could. He nodded slightly and spoke quiet, so no one would be able to hear, “I am quite alright, Sir Alastair. I appreciate the concern.” He bowed his head a little, taking a heavy breath at the same moment that only Virgil was able to hear.

“If you say so. Remember, I and the rest of the knights are available today. Do not hesitate if you need us.” Virgil’s eyes stared deep into Logan’s, communicating all he couldn’t say in the extremely public area. Logan nodded once more in understanding, which was the cue for Virgil to return to his post.

It was only a few more minutes before guests began to fill the room. All were dressed in excessively decorated outfits, bordering on gaudy in some instances. Logan overheard several of them bragging about who had designed and created their ball attire, clearly trying to impress or upstage other attendees. The mage knew what they were all here to do, or at least, what their parents had put them up to and it sickened him to his core. It was all a display of wealth that meant nothing in the grand scheme of things. All but one would be disappointed in the end and the only people gaining anything from most of this showboating were the garment designers, who were already ridiculously wealthy.

Logan wanted nothing more than to leave, his stomach was churning more and more with each passing moment. His throat was dry, which only aided in his nausea. He was already having the most awful experience of his life, but it was an order to be in attendance, so Logan was stuck here. At least the chattering died down once music began to play, and the ball officially began.

Firstly, Patton and Thomas descended the staircase towards the crowd, both wearing practised smiles. Logan attempted to keep his mind clear enough to activate the potions as he heard the announcement for Roman’s entrance. Here began the hardest day of his life.


	13. Chapter 13

Roman stood poised just behind the doorway, watching as his father and brother descended the stairs before him. He wasn’t sure if it was nerves or pure excitement that was causing his pulse to raise to abnormal heights, but it didn’t matter once he heard his cue to enter. The large spotlight contraption shone brightly at him, making him that much more visible. The gathered guests who crowded on the floor beneath him applauded as he took a practised route down the stairs. Just as he reached the landing and took his stance in front of his family, Logan’s firework potions erupted into a bright, colourful display at either side of him. Some of the audience gasped and flinched away, but most were entranced by the beauty. The royal family stood for a few moments longer, before Patton took up the space beside his son.

“My gathered guests. We thank you for coming this evening to celebrate the coming of age of my beloved son, Crown Prince Roman Sanders.” Patton announced with perfect projection. The crowd applauded politely at his name, but Roman could feel his stomach churn for a moment as the reality of it all came back to him. Thankfully, his father continued after placing a comforting hand upon the small of his back, “We invite you all to take your seats, as a light dinner will be served before the main event of the ball commences. I wish you all a wonderful time celebrating his birthday alongside us.”

After one final round of applause, the guests returned to milling around. Roman shared a glance with Patton, who only smiled and nodded before lightly putting pressure against his back. Roman took the hint and descended the final flight of stairs. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see the castle wizard huddled in the corner. Perfect. Just where he’d wanted him to be.

Roman didn’t even manage to take a single step after reaching the ground before he was accosted by several familiar looking people, most of which were from the nobles he’d been unfortunate enough to read the letters of. While in the past he’d not have called their motives into question, now Roman wanted nothing to do with any of them. Unfortunately for him, as all of their parents were of a high status in the kingdom, all he could do was politely converse with them. He simply answered their questions with a well-practised fake smile, though it was clear none of them noticed.

It didn’t take long for a few servants to come and approach those surrounding him, leading them away to their seats. Roman could finally breathe again and he took up his own designated seat at a table that sat close to the stairs. It was sparsely set, as he’d drawn up the seating plan and made sure his closest friends were to be sat alongside him. Roman felt far more at home once they’d all taken their seats and were speaking with him, treating him no different than any other time.

The crown prince kept close attention on how the two Raussier daughters treated him, seeing if they would be the ones to change due to their parents’ letter. Thankfully, neither of them seemed to be listening to the request made of them, as they actively complained about it – more Valerie than Dahlia, but that was also just as normal. Roman relaxed once the food was being served, safe in the knowledge that at least his friends were not about to turn upon him.

Throughout the entire meal, people were constantly approaching the table and attempting to talk with Roman. He was unable to turn them down, but only engaged in polite small talk for a few moments before thanking them and turning back to his table. Many of them took his brushing off with dignity, some even seemingly thankful that they no longer had to try with him, but there were some who were unhappy with him. They stalked off with their noses in the air; Roman watched them all with an amused smile before ignoring them once more.

Roman was pleased when so many of the guests only came to congratulate him on his birthday. It alleviated his deep fear that all of them would approach to attempt to woo him and allowed him to be far more himself than he ever expected he could be.

By the time dessert was being served to them all, the crown prince had returned to his normal boisterous, confident self. Even his friends commented on it, causing Roman to simply wave away their concerns, “Oh, I was just warming myself up, my friends. Not everyone can handle me at my best, after all.” He preened a little but ended up pouting playfully as his friends laughed at his antics.

Oliver eventually approached the prince, “Your highness, the band wanted to know if you had any specific requests for a piece to play for the first dance.”

Roman, despite knowing that Oliver was only doing what he was required to do by protocol, still pouted, “My father has the information. Go and ask him for it. I allowed him that much.”

The servant bowed low in respect, before doing a loop of the table in order to collect the plates. As he leaded down beside the prince in order to reach the table, he muttered quietly, “Of course, Roman.”

Roman was shocked for a moment. He hadn’t expected Oliver to address him by his name at this moment, but it had him breaking out into a huge grin. He watched the servant take the plates away, but was distracted when one of his friends asked, “Why are you grinning? Did that guy say something to you?”

The prince chuckled and allowed his grin to fall a little, though there was a pleased softness to his eyes, “Oh, it was nothing really. Just him fulfilling a request I gave to him.” His friends remained interested, but Roman was not divulging any information to them. If he were to tell them that he wasn’t fond of his title, they might call him out on it or begin to feel guilty for using it. Right now, in the presence of so many, it was going to be what most of them were required to use in order to be seen as respectful and Roman understood it. That didn’t mean he had to like it, however.

A voice called across the room, quietening the noise from the chattering guests once more.

“As is tradition, the one who we are here to celebrate will have the first dance of the night with one whom they choose. If Prince Roman would please accompany me over here in order to announce who he is to pick.”

Roman steeled himself. It was time. He stood with his radiant smile once more, looking over to the head servant who was standing before the band. With effortless movement, Roman walked over to the space where he was, once more, the centre of attention.

The prince cleared his throat before speaking to his captivated audience, “My dear guests. I appreciate you all attending this evening, and I do hope that not a single one of you harbour any ill will towards me nor my dance partner after I announce my decision.” A low murmuring of voices started up, as many of the guests began to wonder about who it would be. Roman paused, allowing them all time to speculate – as well as to calm himself for a moment. He was still able to see the wizard in his line of sight, still standing in the same space as before. It was all going to plan, but now for the part Roman could only hope would follow his expectations.

He took a deep breath before speaking once more, “I would love to invite a very special person, someone who is extremely dear to me, to join me in this first dance of the evening.” Roman turned his full attention to Logan, who’s eyes were now fixed upon him, “My dearest Logan, would you do me the honour of joining me?”

At first, the room fell into a shocked silence as all the attendees caught up to what had just been said. Heads turned, all looking the same direction as Roman, all staring towards Logan who was as still as a statue.

Logan had not expected this. How could he go through with this? But then, could he say no? Would it be seen as a sign of treason if he refused the prince’s request? What would all these guests say, especially each of the ones who were here with the specific intention of winning over Roman’s favour? His mind raced, and his pulse skyrocketed once more. A hand lightly grabbing a hold of his own brought him out of it all, having his eyes lock with gorgeous golden ones that he’d been admiring for some time.

“You can dismiss my request if you wish, Logan.”

The wizard had to bite back a whine as his name fell from the prince’s lips once more, and in such a soft tone. It made him weak. It also broke his barrier. Before he even knew what he was saying, the words came out of him.

“I would be delighted to join you, your highness.”

The embarrassment and deep blush was all worth it as Roman’s face lit up brighter than Logan had ever seen. The prince, still lightly holding his hand, led him to the centre of the dance floor. They were surrounded by all the noble children and visiting royals, yet something kept Logan from feeling self-conscious.

They settled into a hold as if they’d been dancing together for years, the slow music began and the two followed it with their dance.

Logan was sure it was impossible, but the world around them fell away as they swirled around the floor. His face with a dark red, his legs were still shaking uncontrollably, his hands held a little too tight to the prince, and yet… everything felt right, in a way. It was like they were meant to do this, meant to be this close and dance together. Neither had left the other’s gaze as they danced. Time slowly began to lose all meaning to Logan and he relaxed into it, his worries fading, only to be replaced with what he could simply describe as love.

There was no other word for what he felt. Admitting it in a thought to himself made him smile fondly at Roman, who returned the expression in kind. It was perfect. Though, Logan could think of only one thing that could improve the situation.

Just as it crossed his mind, Roman smoothly executed an elaborate yet slow move that ended with him dipping Logan in his arms. A silent question came through his gaze as Logan stared up, opened mouthed and breathless at the prince. A single, imperceptible nod later and the prince’s lips were _finally_ pressed against his own.

Logan was entirely overcome with emotion. Everything at once felt like it was filling up and draining from his body. The intensity was diminished slightly, but everything was real. Suddenly, Logan’s eyes snapped open and Roman pulled away from him with a surprised expression.

“Of course!” Logan exclaimed, his eyes looking at nothing as his brain ran through the events. He was put back onto his feet by Roman, who watched him with worry.

“Is everything alright?”

The wizard laughed aloud, a wide smile crossing his face, “Everything is more than alright, everything is back to normal! I should have known that a kiss would have been the antidote!”

“Antidote?” Roman’s eyes narrowed in confusion, “What are you talking about?”

Logan opened his mouth to explain, but then he remembered where the two of them were. Stood in the centre of Roman’s ball, all the guests eyes staring at them with varying expressions. After a second of consideration, Logan closed his mouth and smiled softly, “I shall explain everything later, but… may I ask one thing of you, Roman?”

The prince’s cheeks flushed a light shade of pink, which Logan immediately found endearing, “Of course, my love.” He reached out and held both of Logan’s hands ever so carefully, placing kisses atop both of them, “Anything you wish.”

It was Logan’s turn to blush once more, though he hoped that it would be a far less frequent occurrence in the upcoming months. With the gentlest smile he could muster, Logan quietly asked, “May I bother you for another kiss?”

Roman broke into the widest grin before he laughed, “It is no bother.” He said before pressing a feather-light kiss to the wizard’s lips once more. After pulling away, he raised his voice, “I have yet another request of you, Logan.”

The wizard fought hard to not roll his eyes at the showboating, “Whatever could it be now, your highness?” He asked, a gentle mocking hint behind his voice.

“Would you, Sir Logan Pendry, allow me the highest honour in the world, and permit me to enter a romantic relationship with you?”

A gasp rippled around the room. All the guests seemed scandalised by the sheer thought of the crown prince beginning a relationship with the royal wizard, who undoubtably had some bad blood within him, and yet all the knights, servants and other inhabitants of the castle seemed all too relieved that the question had been asked. To some, it came across as thought they’d all been waiting for this moment for a long time.

They didn’t have long to ponder about that, however, as Logan quickly responded. “It would be _my_ honour, Prince Roman, to accompany you in a romantic relationship.”

After the announcement of the new couple, which Patton was far too excited to show off to the entire visiting audience even though they’d just witnessed their union, the ball continued. Music began and many of the guests took to the dance floor. Those who’d approached Roman prior and been upset with his treatment of them either chose to remain seated or had themselves escorted to their homes by the royal guard. It surprised no one that all of these children were from the nobles who lived in the capital and almost every guest that stayed was pleased to see them go.

Roman and Logan did not leave their new partner’s side for the rest of the night. Many came to congratulate the couple; some stuck around to ask questions but others were content with just a quick exchange. Either way, the couple were more than happy to accommodate all of them.

Roman’s friends were persistent in their teasing of the crown prince, poking fun at the fact he’d had a crush on the wizard for years now – something that someone around had clearly told them without Roman’s express permission. He fought back vehemently, defending his actions by insisting it was for the ‘good of their relationship’ or that it ‘would not have been the spectacle he wanted had he confessed earlier’. Logan simply quirked an eyebrow good-naturedly when Roman turned to him for assistance.

“Of course! Even you, my beloved, are against me! The betrayal!” Roman exaggeratedly fell into an empty chair nearby, falsely crying out to the ceiling. His friends crowded around and playfully teased him some more.

Logan stood by, his arms folded. While he may have fallen for every aspect of the prince and had agreed to begin a relationship with him, that didn’t mean he was going to help him in his acts. As he waited for Roman to finish, Logan caught the eye of Virgil from across the room. The two friends shared a smile and a nod, before the mage was called back to the scene before him.

Virgil snickered as he watched Logan be pulled into Roman’s lap and almost smothered in a hug. It was going to be a little different around the castle, but it was surely for the better. The knight returned to surveying the room, keeping an eye on all of the guests for any signs of trouble. His gaze fell on the young Prince Thomas, who was dancing with his dad nearby. Virgil managed to hear a small part of what was undoubtably a longer conversation.

“Papa, do you think I’ll be in a romantic relationship like Ro and Mr Magic?” Thomas asked him innocently.

Patton smiled warmly and continued to dance a little awkwardly with the short boy, “Of course you will, Thomas. You’ll find someone and, when you do, you follow your brother’s example. Don’t let anything get in the way of what your heart wants.”

Thomas’ face lit up and he left his father behind as he ran around the edge of the room towards Sara, who was stood in her given position. Both Virgil and Patton looked at each other, exchanging shrugs as they looked over at the conversation.

Had they been able to hear what was being said, they’d have understood why Sara began to laugh.

“Oh, young Thomas, I don’t know if that is what you want.” She said, crouching down to be at his height.

“But Papa said to follow my heart! My heart loves you, Sara!” Thomas repeated, grabbing a hold of her hand as he stared up at her with determination blazing in his eyes.

The young woman couldn’t help the fond smile. She laughed again before nodding, “Okay, how about we wait until you are the age of your brother. See if you still feel the same way, hm?”

Thomas nodded furiously, “Yes! I promise! I’ll still love you as much as I do now!”

“Of course, your highness.” Sara spoke softly before standing back to her full height, “I think your father is waiting for you. How about you go back to him?” She went to pull her hand back, but found Thomas still grasping a hold of it.

“Sara, come with me! Dance with me! Just once? Please?” The young prince stared up at her with large, pleading eyes and there was no way the servant could say no. She accompanied Thomas to the floor and the two danced under the watchful eye of Patton and Virgil.

Just through the doors, Demitri stood against the door frame. He had been keeping a low profile at the back of the room, just in case he needed to have a quick getaway, but thankfully everything had gone smoothly. He went to turn and head back to his room, when a hand stopped him. Demitri turned and saw Patton standing there.

“Why are you leaving now? You haven’t had a dance yet.” The kind said with a wide grin that had an air of childishness.

Demitri huffed in amusement, “I wasn’t asked by anyone, and I and I certainly don’t expect it to happen at this point.” Patton’s hand moved off of his shoulder and Demitri expected him to let him go, but instead the man grabbed a hold of his hand. His eyes flicked downwards and back up to the reigning king, a look of shock plain as day on his face.

“Please, share this next dance with me?” Patton asked.

The animal handler searched the man’s face for any ulterior motives, yet he found none. He eventually gave in and playfully sighed, “I suppose I could, just this once. Only for you, old friend.”

The two walked towards the dance floor and fell into a clearly practised routine. The night ended with all of them retiring to their rooms, happy smiles on their faces as they drifted off to sleep. Peace had returned to the castle once more and all was well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of this fic, but I will be continuing this story with a sequel sometime soon <3  
> Gotta give some pay-off to all the Yitra stuff, right? ;)


End file.
